Snow White Byakuugan
by Midnight Memories
Summary: A mission goes wrong when a blizzard attacks the forest they are in. Keeping a relationship secret isn't easy, especially when the man you love is risking his life for others and you're safely waiting for him to come back. NejiTenten
1. A Spar With Snowflakes

Title:  
Snow White Byakuugan

Rating:  
T. Don't know why yet. Probably some language later on. No, it will not go higher and do not even consider asking me about making this a lemon. No. No. No.

Spoilers:  
None. If you happen to see one, tell me immediately.

Pairings:  
Main: Neji x Tenten.  
Secondary: Naruto x Hinata. Lee x Sakura. Shikamaru x Temari.

Dedicated:  
First chapter is for Snowqueen184. BETA reading her fic made me want to write one of my own, though it probably won't end up as good. Go look at it if you want a great NejiTen, the link is on my profile. She's an amazing friend and an all-around great girl!

Disclaimer:  
Don't own much except ideas… Konoha doesn't belong to me, Tenten and Neji don't belong to me, the whole Naruto show doesn't belong to me, snow doesn't belong to me…

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**Chapter One: A Spar With Snowflakes**

Millions and millions of little particles of white snow glittered slowly from the sky. There wasn't any wind; therefore, the snowflakes would fall straight and slow, descending upon the peaceful village of Konoha one after the other.

It was only late November, but everything was covered in the freezing substance. Some shinobi were pushing aside their seriousness to adopt a more childish approach to the temperature, jumping in the snow and challenging each other for a 'Who-can-make-the-biggest-snowman' competition. Some were inside, snuggled in blankets while drinking hot cocoa and looking out the window at the beautiful scenery.

Then there were the unlucky ones. Those with a killer cold, who were strapped into bed with a huge pile of Kleenexes besides them and whimpers all around. There were also those whose nagging mothers insisted they shoveled everything within a ten meter radius of the house.

Then there was the phenomena of Hyuuga Neji and Tenten.

A loud battle cry, coming from the female kunoichi, broke through the monotonous silence that loomed through the forest. Fierce ember eyes, trained upon her opponent, flickered dangerously as she sprang from a snow-covered branch, heading straight towards her sparring partner with a katana raised high above her head.

The blade, going rather rapidly downwards, sliced through the air with a near-silent buzz. It was perfect- she had managed to creep up on him, landing silently on a tree branch directly in his blind spot. Such a brilliant calculation and such stealth was enough to make her grin. But she had had no time to waste; therefore, she had just jumped forward, desiring nothing besides striking him.

She was about a foot from him, still falling towards the ground, when Neji suddenly twitched and vanished.

A half second later, he was about two feet away, facing her in his Jyuuken pose.

As soon as Tenten's feet hit the ground and had sunken in the foot of snow that covered the area, she turned around rapidly to impale Neji with her blade. Sadly, though, her efforts were in vain as a hand struck her side lightly, causing her immense pain.

Screaming with rage and pain, the Weapon Mistress of Konoha fell sideways as her chakra system punished her for training with a Hyuuga. The snow thankfully cushioned her fall, but she still managed to feel the icy substance sticking into her already wet clothing uncomfortably.

"Had enough?" Neji's smug voice ran through the area.

Growling, Tenten sat up, shaking her head rapidly to clear the snow from her face. Her dark chocolate-colored hair was still miraculously in her signature buns, yet were tainted darker with the melted snow.

She then trained her eyes to him, swallowing hard to avoid the nasty comment that was hanging on the edge of her lips. The seventeen year old Jounin looked rather winded himself, yet chose to show his superiority by smugly looking down at her. His white robes blended in well with his frosty surrounding, matching his pale eyes.

For an answer, she stood up and reached for another scroll.

Yes, they were definitely insane.

Hours later, when the cloud-covered sun was obvious beginning to dip over the horizon, Tenten sank against a tree. Her chest rose and fell with every breath and she noticed that even Neji had stumbled a few minutes ago.

She knew that he was getting tired. Maybe not as much as she was, but it was still exuberating to know that she was exhausting such a strong shinobi. Gathering all her strength, she jumped at him rapidly with kunai in hand, but he only ducked and… was he running away?

"Neji!" she barked as she Jounin vanished behind a cluster of trees. "What the hell are you doing?"

Silence answered her.

With nothing but Neji's footsteps to guide her, she grumbled and began to follow him, watch out carefully around herself for any sign of her teammate's dark hair. The rest of him usually blended in well with their hibernal surroundings. For the first time in her life, she cursed the Hyuuga's choice of color –or rather their lack of- for their traditional outfits. They might stand out during the summer, but it was definitely easy to camouflage themselves in winter.

Soon, she noticed his footsteps ending abruptly only a few feet away from where she stood. Halting rapidly, she looked around herself for any sign of the teen. Finding none, she turned around just in time to see three shuriken hurriedly making their way towards her.

Being the Weapon's Mistress of Konoha, Tenten had absolutely no problem to catch said weapons, even though they were thrown by none other than the prodigy of one of the most powerful clans in the Leaf Village.

Sadly for Neji, though, the move had drawn Tenten's attention towards the thick tree branch where he was standing. Smirking as she hauled the weapons back at him, he jumped backwards and landed on his feet under the tree.

They both began to throw their iron projectiles at each other, steel hitting steel through a flurry of snowflakes. It was almost like a dance, two bodies rapidly moving through trees, dark forms leaving their hands at lightning speed with both the intention to harm and to defend. All through a shower of icy precipitation.

Eventually, though, she noticed that Neji had stopped throwing weapons. He was a few meters away, where an important lack of trees surrounded him. Simply standing there, the prodigy eyed Tenten as she approached him.

Pulling out a scroll, the kunoichi unsealed a long sword as a smile graced her features. Then, after putting the roll back in her pocket, she hurriedly rushed towards him.

_'Why isn't he moving?'_ her subconscious screamed at her. Usually, he would at least have gotten a weapon out or would've gotten in his defensive stance. But this time, he was just nonchalantly waiting for her to arrive. _'He's probably going to use __Kawarimi__ no Jutsu; brace yourself, Tenten!'_

She was now only about six feet from him, still running at top speed. She then shut down her brain, who was warning her that he might not move and that she could kill him, and bent her knees slightly to jump. Then she realized what he was planning.

Why did they pick such an intelligent jerk as a training partner again?

As soon as she was a single meter from him, her foot hit a patch of invisible ice that she definitely hadn't expected. Gravity won over balance and the next thing she knew, she was sprawled face first at the feet of a smirking Hyuuga.

As she stayed sprawled on the ground –she was covered in snow and soaked to the bones, comfort didn't matter anymore- and flushed with embarassement, Tenten glared at Neji murderously.

"Ever heard of dirty tricks?" she snapped. "Because that was definitely one, Hyuuga Neji! I could've broken something!"

Neji's expression remained unfazed by her anger, though it retained its almost-smiling look. "Any Jounin would've been curious as to why I wasn't worried about your attack. Even a Chuunin like you should know this by now, Tenten. Enemy ninjas don't care if a trick is dirty or not, so don't expect **me** to play nice."

Stung, the girl sat up slowly and looked away. She had failed her Jounin exams the first time she had tried them, which was why she had bugged the hell out of him to help her pass the second time. He had agreed, so now their focus during training was her skills rather than both of theirs.

Sighing, she got up as Neji announced they were done for the day. She brushed the snow off and allowed her rage and humiliation to diminish. From now on, she'd be more careful. It was a lesson well learnt and there was no need for her to resent her sparring partner.

After going through the long process of gathering all of their weapons, Tenten suddenly asked, "Think I'll make it to Jounin this year?"

"Hn," Neji muttered, leaning against a tree. He had, of course, already stored all of his tools away and was waiting for her.

She rolled her eyes swiftly as she began to seal her weapons back into her scroll. "I didn't hear you!"

Neji frowned in slight annoyance. "I believe you will," he said swiftly, watching her work without an expression on his face.

Tenten smiled to herself as she quickly finished the job, then rapidly shoved the scrolls inside her bag. They were already getting wet because of the temperature.

He obviously had no idea how his input affected her. In fact, he had no clue how it affected everyone around him. When it came to the strongest Branch member of the Hyuuga clan, compliments were hardly given and were extremely difficult to earn.

Having finished the job, she got up slowly and slung the pack over her shoulder. Now it was sinking in how cold it was around them and the snow was starting to pile annoyingly on her shoulders and head. A shiver racked through her body and she bit her tongue as Neji snickered lightly.

Before he could do any comment, she turned around towards the path and called out, "Well then I'm going back home! Same place tomorrow?"

"Wait."

His voice was low in octave, which made her halt before she went any further. She didn't answer, didn't move; only waited for him to continue.

She was such a hypocrite. She knew damn well what was coming.

His footsteps, only small crunches as his weight passed through the hard snow, approached her patiently. He then stood directly behind her, his body inches from hers.

This time, when Tenten shivered, it had nothing to do with the cold.

She turned around slowly before her eyes met his, immediately captivating her. She loved these eyes. They always seemed to shine, no matter how dull Neji appeared, and even though he was stoic like a shell, she had found the secret emotions that sometimes played through his orbs.

"Neji," she whispered, suddenly growing uncomfortable. "What if someone finds us here? We're in broad daylight and—"

"Byakuugan," he whispered, activating his Bloodline Limit, which made the veins around his temples and upper cheeks swell slightly. Turning a full circle so his blind spot couldn't miss anything, he deactivated it and the corners of his lips tweaked upwards. "We're alone."

"Are you sure Byakuugan really works through the snow?" she asked even though she had no doubt it did, looking around at the dizzying amount of whiteness.

Neji silenced her by grabbing her jaw in one hand and lowering his lips to hers. Tenten's eyes closed slowly as she wrapped her arms around his neck and allowed him to draw her close.

He was cold, his clothing was wet, and she was exhausted; but there was no other place she had rather be as she returned his kiss.

Their small display of affection was brief and they both stepped away from each other much too quickly than desired. But they cherished their secrecy more than anything. To the outside world, they were nothing more than teammates. People even had difficulty to consider them as friends, since "Neji is so cold-hearted towards her most of the times".

But Tenten knew better. Every time they'd pity her for relentlessly training with the "stoic bastard", she'd be mentally thinking about all the times he'd kissed her. About all the minutes of "training" passed in each other's arms through the concealing darkness when they both became too exhausted to even throw a kunai straight. All the times he apologized for his rash behavior during their spar, but she'd tell him to be quiet because it was essential to her shinobi training.

Neji only ran his hand on her cheek one last time, then fully pulled away. His eyes held a certain glint that was only reserved for her, a loving look that she hadn't even considered the Hyuuga to possess. Almost the same look Hinata gave Naruto when she peered at him from a distance, only more intense.

After one last loving look, Tenten turned around again and started to walk. Both refused to say goodbye to each other, since they would see each other again. Goodbyes were meant for people who were to be gone in the near future, not for two lovers who would meet again the next morning.

Sighing deeply, Tenten continued her trip through the snow, which now nearly reached her knees. A part of herself was annoyed at Neji for picking out that particular training ground for the day.

They had arrived there early in the morning, when there was only about three inches of snow. It was an area crowded with bare trees, which meant that the snow could still hinder them. But Neji had declared that it was the perfect area to train. End of discussion.

But she was fine with it. As long as it was to spend time with Neji, she would do anything. Even completely make a fool of herself by missing a single patch of ice.

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A/N: Hello to those who have read up to here and thank you for doing so! I found the this chapter horrendous, I have no idea why I'm posting it.

I know that I'm usually a rapid updater, but don't expect this to be regularly updated. I have way too many things to do right now!

Well, this is my first story after NaNoWriMo. I know that I wrote in my profile that I wasn't going to write any chapter stories for a while, but I broke down. This idea has been trotting in my head ever since it started to snow around here. I've wanted to do a NejiTen, so I'm doing it. Only not at all like I had expected it to turn out…

I know, it will be OOC at some point. Duh, it's fanfiction. I'll try to keep them as IC as possible, but writing a romance (without them being out of character) with a guy like Neji is impossible.

I love reviews. They help me live. So you know what to do!

Take care!


	2. Split in Groups

Disclaimer:  
If I'd own it, I wouldn't be on this site right now.

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**Chapter Two: Split in Groups **

The Hyuuga estates were the most beautiful part of Konoha, in Tenten's opinion. Everything looked so regal and strict, but she knew it was filled with wonderful people. Most specifically, Neji and his cousin Hinata. 

Being from the Main House doesn't mean that one was stronger. But for the last three years, Neji had been working with Hinata on their Bloodline Limit to help her improve. He was now able to stretch his Byakuugan over five hundred meters, a new record through the Hyuuga clan. Hinata had now, with her cousin's help, managed to reach a hundred meters. Those two were definitely the pride of their clan.

It was unbelievable how Neji had grown since their first Chuunin exams.

All the hate now seemed to have grown in an affection usually reserved for one's sibling. He no longer spoke about hating the Main House, but more of how he would always respect and protect them. Especially the future heir of their clan.

Which was why Tenten wasn't so surprised to see them both walking towards her one morning, when they were supposed to train.

"Hi, guys!" Tenten called, a bright grin lighting up her features.

She noticed a faint blush creeping on Hinata's cheekbones at being so warmly received. It was only until recently that the two girls had really connected –through Neji, of course- and could actually consider themselves as friends.

"Hi, Tenten," the youngest Hyuuga said with a smile of her own. No matter how hard she tried to appear confident, traces of insecurity were still visible in her pale lavender eyes.

Neji, for his part, only gave a small nod of greeting, a hint of a smile lacing his usual emotionless features. He remained stoically silent, though, as he always did when anyone else was around. He was more talkative when the only person around to judge him was his sparring partner.

Losing her grin, she shot Neji a long look, feeling her heart constricting in her chest. How she longed for the next time he'd hold her. Usually he'd keep a few minutes before or after training to take her in his arms, but it was better than nothing. And nothing was what she was getting right now.

Yet for the moment, with Hinata, it would be impossible for them to have some "relationship" time. No being themselves- they'd have to keep the professional mask on. As always.

"Any reason you're joining us?" the Weapon's Mistress asked the future leader of the Hyuuga clan. She then bit her tongue sharply when Neji's eyes narrowed at the tone of her voice. Alright, so maybe it had been a little sharper than intended.

Hinata obviously thought so too. Her eyes fell to the snow-covered ground and she tied her hands together nervously in front of herself, erasing the smile that had loosened her face earlier.

"I came because Hokage-sama asked us to meet together in her office. So Neji-niisan and I came here first to pick you up so you wouldn't have to walk alone," the girl softly explained.

Feeling guilty over her harsh choice of words, Tenten shifted uncomfortably. "Sorry, Hinata. I'm a bit uptight over my Jounin exams, since they're in a few months. I apologize for what I said."

Brightening, Neji's cousin nodded and smiled shyly at Tenten, a smile that went returned. "It's nothing."

"Well then, if Lady Tsunade asked us to meet with her, we shouldn't keep her waiting!" Tenten exclaimed with a chuckle. Half of her was excited for meeting with the woman she practically idolized, but the other half was hyped up for what might come later. Neji, Hinata, and her… A mission together, perhaps?

They started to walk slowly, all three in a comfortable silence. Hinata was looking at children playing in the snow with a soft smile and a faraway look in her eyes while Neji was staring straight ahead. Tenten, in the middle of the two, was simply enjoying the atmosphere.

They all rounded the corner and engaged in a mostly-emptied street. Passing in front of Ichiraku's, Tenten noticed how Hinata peered at the customers' legs, then turned slightly red when she noticed Naruto's pants and shoes. His voice bolstered from inside, but her eyes stayed glued to the small ramen restaurant and she remained in step with her cousin and his friend.

Meanwhile, Tenten had noticed that the street was completely empty. Smiling coyly at herself, she allowed the back of her hand to barely touch Neji's own hand. It was just the slightest brush of their knuckles together, but it had more the unexpected effect of a shot of electricity as a tingling sensation ran through her body.

Neji remained unaffected, though she could've sworn she noticed his eyes softening temporarily.

They arrived at the Hokage's tower shortly after, but were stopped by an aggravated-looking Chuunin. He explained that, due to lack of staff, everyone who entered had to take their shoes off. No shinobi who fully respected themselves enjoyed working as a janitor.

All three of them complied, seeing well over fifty pair of shoes, all neatly aligned on the floor close to the wall.

"There's only a woman like Tsunade to think of something like that," the Chuunin mumbled unhappily, leaning against the wall to wait for future arrivals.

The trio then made their way up to a spacious room, where they had been invited. Neji propped the door open, then stepped back to allow Tenten and Hinata to pass through.

As soon as the Weapon's Mistress had stepped in, her amber eyes widened with shock at the sight in front of her.

Okay, so maybe she wouldn't be alone with Neji and Hinata during that mission.

"My two youthful companions are here!" a blur of green, orange, and black shouted as he pretty much tackled Tenten. The girl took a step back to be able to grab Lee in an embrace, then grinned weakly at his cheerful greeting.

The youngest Green Beast of Konoha then gave his nice guy pose, directing his thumbs-up at Neji. His attention went unnoticed as the prodigy looked around the room, ignoring Lee's crazy attitude.

Meanwhile, Hinata had crept towards Shino and Kiba, who were standing in their corner of the room. Sakura was chatting idly with the Hokage while Ino stood by the window. Everyone, even down to the Hokage herself, was in socks to keep the floor dry.

Lee pretty much dragged Tenten to stand besides him, babbling excitedly about the snow's arrival only a few days earlier. Neji silently followed, standing close to his secretive girlfriend, yet his eyes remained trained on the Godaime in a disciplined fashion.

More minutes passed, then the door was pushed open again. In came Shikamaru and Chouji, shuffling on their socks, soon followed by Kurenai and--

"Gai-sensei! You have finally arrived!" Lee shouted, making everyone in the room – except Neji – cringe visibly. The Chuunin rushed towards his mentor and the two embraced while gleefully shouting greetings.

"Lee!" the man shouted, giving his favorite student a blinding grin. "I admire your youthfulness! Arriving before your sensei!"

They were quieted down as Tsunade stood up and commanded everyone's attention, her long blonde hair falling swiftly over her shoulders.

"Is everyone here?" she questioned, her eyes sweeping over the crowd in her current office. Her rose-painted lips turned into a grimace of dismay as she sighed. "No, we're still missing a few."

The following person didn't disappoint them. Only seconds later, the door flew open and Naruto thundered in, his boots leaving a trail of water and snow behind him.

"I'm here, Granny Tsunade!" he shouted with a grin, then instantly lost it when he noticed Tsunade visibly cringing. "What?"

"Your shoes, idiot!" Kiba growled with a roll of his eyes. "We were trying to keep the floor dry and you just barged in with your shoes!"

Naruto seemed about to defend herself when Tsunade hit her desk, causing everyone to look at her. A vein seemed to have popped in her forehead, accentuating the angered look on her face as her fingers curled in a fist.

"I don't care if not everyone's here. I'm starting," she grumbled. "I have some news about Sasuke."

Chaos ensued. Sakura and Ino, in the same shrill voice, asked for details. Naruto began to verbalize his persuasion to find the Uchiha. While the rest only whispered together, Tenten raised an eyebrow at Neji, who remained impassive.

"Sasuke has surely become more powerful than ever, and he surely has allies from the Sound Village with him. He was seen in a forest just outside the village. It's a large wooden area, nearly a hundred miles in diameter, but I believe it's the best place to catch him. Which is why all of you are here," Tsunade explained, which made everyone's voice die down.

"The groups are simple. Hinata, Shino, Kiba, and Kurenai; all of you work well together, so stay close to each other." The mentioned shinobi nodded together.

"Next will be Tenten, Lee, Naruto, and Neji."

Naruto grinned once his name was called and turned towards his group. "We'll find Sasuke, first! Believe it!"

But Naruto's face grew confused as he noticed a river of tears flowing down Lee's face. Tsunade then rolled her eyes slowly as Lee marched up to the desk.

"Why can't Gai-Sensei be with us? What's wrong with Gai-Sensei!" he cried, flailing his arms around.

But the Hokage remained aloof. "Neji will be the Jounin in charge of your team, Lee. I've assigned a spot for Gai too, even though he won't be directly with you."

That seemed to reassure the spandex-clad ninja as he slunk back to his place behind Tenten.

"Lastly will be Shikamaru, Ino, Chouji, and Sakura."

"What!" came two screeches at opposite sides of the room.

"I refuse to go!" Ino screamed, crossing her arms in utter annoyance.

Sakura's glare could've killed as she shot back, "I do not want to be paired with Ino-Pig!"

"Think I want to be paired with you, Billboard Brow?" Ino shot back, her pupil-less eyes gleaming angrily.

The tensed silence that followed was broken by Shikamaru's, "How troublesome…"

"But wait!" Chouji jumped in as he crept towards the desk. "Aren't we supposed to have a Jounin with us? The other two teams have one, so why can't we?"

Tsunade was now obviously getting sick of the conversation. Leaning back in her seat, she gave a bored yawn before answering, "Guys, Sakura is a medic-nin. In other words, if something is bound to happen, you guys will receive immediate treatment."

Sakura beamed proudly while Ino made a distasteful face.

"The one in charge will be Shikamaru. He should be a Jounin by now, but I shall quote from him, 'Filling all the paperwork is too troublesome'."

Ino rolled her eyes openly. "It's half a sheet of paper, Shikamaru! It would take a minute."

"Which is too much time wasted, in my opinion," the shadow-wielder sighed.

Tsunade was now eyeing the bottle of alcohol on her desk as she ran a hand over her forehead. "Gai will be the backup, in case something happens. Also, the Kazekage has sent out a liaison that's bound to pass through that forest in a week's time. It would be perfect if you could request his or her help for that mission also. So you are all leaving in four days from now."

More agreement and more whines, but the blonde woman dismissed them with a wave of her hand.

Just as people were starting to evacuate the room, a window suddenly slid open and a silvery head peered through the opening.

"Hi!" Kakashi greeted with a small wave. "Am I late?"

"My eternal rival!" Gai brightly grinned. "Sadly, yes! The meeting is officially over!"

"Oh," the Jounin sighed as people rolled their eyes at his everlasting tardiness. Propping a hand on the back of his head and closing his eyes with a grin, he suddenly asked, "Mind starting over for me?"

A chorus of voices all shouted their agreement in one voice: "No!"

Kakashi sighed and shrugged, but Tsunade tossed him a scroll. "Kakashi will be your second backup, along with Gai. Now leave, all of you! Please!"

The group of people instantly obeyed and dispersed after pulling on their shoes. Since Hinata had deserted them for her team, Neji and Tenten ended up alone together. They walked leisurely through the streets and she noted absentmindedly that they had taken the path to her apartment.

"Naruto and Lee. That ought to be a real winner if it comes down to stealth," she sighed, initiating the conversation.

Neji only commented with a soft, "Hn."

She took the hint that he wanted to stay quiet and they continued on in silence. The sky was still clear, without a single snowflake to fall upon them.

Soon, they arrived at her small apartment. Half of herself was tempted to ask him to come inside, but she knew that if he was seen coming out, rumors would start to fly. Konoha was, strangely, renowned for the rapidity of gossips.

"When will we train next?" she asked with a soft smile.

Neji remained stoic as he faced her. "After that mission, I'm afraid. Hiashi-sama finds that I've neglected my training with Hinata-sama and would like me to spend the next few days with her."

Trying to ignore the sharp pang of disappointment that ebbed into her stomach, the bun-haired girl nodded slowly in understanding. It was true that she had taken up most of Neji's time recently.

But the prodigy gently took her hand in his. She gladly entwined their fingers together, running her thumb over his smooth skin.

"Maybe we might be able to send Naruto and Lee off to find firewood during our mission," Neji murmured as a hint of a smirk drew itself on his face. "Then we'll have privacy."

Tenten grinned weakly and gave a nod as he dropped her hand. Then, truthful to their silent agreement, he turned and left without another word.

* * *

A/N: Do I get an award for the most horrible chapter ever written?

Well, I had the entire chapter written out. Then my computer froze and I went nuts. So I had to rewrite everything, hope it's not that awful. Usually, my rewriting comes out bland and boring.

It's nuts here. I started writing this fic because it was snowing here. Now it's a crazy blizzard, I must have over a foot of snow in my driveway. Plus it's not letting up. It's also the reason why this chapter is out so soon.

Well I'm out, review! – Also, whoever can review more than Rainy (Yumizuki) does will get to pick something in my story later on. You have up to chapter 5 to give me a long review. Or else Rainy wins.

Take care!


	3. Kakashi? On time?

Disclaimer: Non, Naruto ne m'appartient pas… Je suis donc officiellement triste.

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**Chapter Three: Kakashi? On Time? **

The only things visible in the smothering darkness were flashes of electric blue as two figures moved rapidly, both trying to outdo the other. Smooth palms were lightly attempting to tap their opponent's body while both of the fighters' bloodline limits were activated. 

On the sidelines, an important-looking man watched the two teenagers fight, his face solid. A permanent frown was etched on his youthful-looking features, but he wasn't angry. His expression was one of pure concentration as he stared slightly, his arms crossed over his chest. To add to the man's status, every other Hyuuga onlooker had dispersed to allow him a front-seat place.

Suddenly, the male fighter managed to trick his female opponent in believing he was going to strike her shoulder. While one of her hand was down and the other one reaching up to parry his blow, he sneaked one of his hand to her side and fleetingly touched her ribcage.

To anyone who didn't know about the Hyuuga clan, this would've been a worthless shot. But since they were in said clan, some people actually cringed. Of course, those who did weren't in the line of vision of the man as he narrowed his eyes slightly.

Time stood still as the female opponent sunk to the ground. A strong and icy wind blew by, accentuating the aura of dread that sped through the crowd.

Hyuuga Neji shook his head in annoyance when the wind whipped his hair over his face. He shot the briefest of looks at his uncle, who was glaring at his fallen daughter as his clothes rumpled with the gale. No one moved, everyone waited.

The girl glared up at Neji as she slowly got up, her hand wrapped around her ribcage. It didn't stay there long as it slowly reached in front of her. Her entire body shifted to the Jyuuken pose and she stayed put, ready for defense.

Neji almost felt prideful towards his cousin for being so determined. Many of her chakra points had been sealed, yet she fought on anyways, a confident look displayed on her delicate face.

Just before he attacked, though, he noticed Hiashi nodding lightly and turning around. He soon left the clearing and Neji took the slightest moment of distraction that his departure provoked to jump forward.

Hinata blocked and they began their dance-like routine once more, a spectacle for their crowd.

----------

It was hours later, when the sun had long gone to sleep, that Neji chose to end the session. It didn't take anyone with the Byakuugan to see that he had left his cousin in a complete mess. For the last half hour, she had resolved to defending herself on the snow-covered ground, since Neji had pretty much sealed every single point in her legs.

But there was only so much one could do with kunai and shuriken. Hinata had no idea how Tenten managed to be so effective with only weapons. She was also curious as to why the poor girl wasn't dead from her incessant training sessions with Neji, especially since she had no bloodline limit. Hinata was barely able to keep up with both.

The Branch House member knelt down besides his cousin, his eyes still activated as they swept over her body, checking her for any permanent or pressing damage he might have inflicted upon her by incident.

Finding none that would be life threatening, he slowly slid one arm under Hinata's knees and the other one around her back. The girl was shivering with both cold, due to her soaked clothing and frozen feet, and hurt. Deactivating his Byakuugan, he carried her in his secure grasp until they were in the Main part of the Hyuuga quarters. Wordlessly, he marched right into her bedroom, ignoring the shocked glare that many servants shot him.

Slowly, carefully, he laid his cousin down in the bed and softly placed the covers around her limp body. She cracked her eyes open just as he was straightening up and smiled weakly at him, feeling the warmth of the covers seeping into her gradually.

"Thank you, Neji-niisan," she breathed out quietly, her pupils half-closed.

Neji only gave a small nod, knowing that she would soon fall asleep. He turned around in the looming darkness and took a few steps towards the door when a question from the younger girl made him halt.

"Why did you train with me instead of Tenten?"

Turning his head to look at her solemnly, he blinked once to show he had understood her question, yet paused to consider it. They both knew that he usually trained with the Weapon's Mistress before coming home to train with her, yet today he hadn't.

"Because we have a mission with her tomorrow, so I'll see her then," he reasoned in a thick voice. "I gave her a break from training."

Hinata then painfully attempted to roll to her side. She failed miserably and only ended up twice as sore as a few minutes ago. Closing her eyes, she sighed deeply and murmured, "Do you miss her?"

Now Neji stiffened the slightest bit, which went unnoticed since the only person in the room was dizzy with tiredness. He swallowed back a small desire to tell Hinata the truth, yet he knew that neither of them was ready to mention it.

"Whoever I train with doesn't matter," he simply stated, then glided towards the door and opened it up.

Before her cousin could run away, Hinata smiled softly even though he couldn't see her and called out, "Good night, Neji-niisan! Sleep well."

She barely heard the soft "hn" that came from the other side of the door, which made her smile even more. Then, she drifted in a peaceful slumber that would keep her until the next morning.

----------

Meanwhile, Neji was shuffling his way out of the door. The night air was crisp and cool as his feet gently crunched the snow beneath them. He shoved his tired hands in the pockets of the coat he was wearing and looked up at the stars.

It was freezing, yet there hadn't been a single snowflake in days.

Sighing, the prodigy walked slowly towards the Branch House, enjoying every precious second of solitude he was able to steal. No matter how people considered Neji as a secluded kind of man, truth was that he wasn't able to spend much time alone. Even when he was alone in his bedroom, he knew that there were dozens of people just outside his door ready to shatter his solitude.

Therefore, being utterly unaccompanied for a single moment felt like a blessing. It allowed him to clear his mind from any negative thoughts he might have harbored for a while.

Just as the footsteps he had created were multiplying, he began to consider taking a detour to Tenten's place.

Nasty detour, especially since she lived to the other end of the village.

But then he shook his head and attempted to rid his mind of her, thankfully succeeding. It wasn't an easy task, but he had to do so. More than once per day, actually. The lovely weapon's mistress, with her honey-colored eyes and dark hair, was his least favorite subject to think about.

Most men daydreamed about their ladies during the day. They talked about them, some even bragged, for hours. But Neji did neither. He absolutely refused to either speak about Tenten as a romantic interest or to even bring her up in his mind. Because with both came the sorrow of knowledge that she wasn't with him and the fierce longing that tugged in his heart.

Eventually, his short walk ended and he slid in his home, shutting the door behind him. He knew that he had to go to bed, or else he wouldn't be able to function well tomorrow morning. Their mission did start pretty early and he would need all of his focus to be able to concentrate on the task rather than on the lady who would be accompanying him.

----------

It was six the next morning when Neji arrived at the gates, an hour early for his mission, with a light pack slung over his shoulder. Small tendrils of sunlight were beginning to peer through the clouds to the East of the village, lighting Neji's path as he marched towards the gate. Since the only people who were up were shinobi too busy to train, the walk was pretty uninteresting and long. But then he saw her.

She was clad in winter clothing, yet they were ample enough for her to move easily in. A thick maroon coat, probably stuffed with weapons, rested on her shoulders snugly. The large scroll that she always carried around was strapped securely on her back. Her eyes were raised up to the heavens as she patiently waited, her long legs swinging under her from the wall she was sitting on.

As soon as his figure appeared on the road, she turned around to face him. A smile lit up her face, turning the sunrays into mere flickers in comparison.

Just as he arrived closer, he was disappointed to find Shino sitting wordlessly a few meters from Tenten. His glasses were fogged up with the cold, but he didn't seem to mind as he waited patiently for the mission to start.

Neji mentally cursed. Both Tenten and himself had arrived much too early to find each other alone together. He had simply wished for a few moments, just so they could talk privately and laid some ground rules for the mission. Probably he would've only lectured her on being careful not to let anything slip, anyways.

Sighing, he took his position sitting close to her. Shutting his eyes, he straightened his back and forced himself to meditate. Soon, all thoughts flew out of his mind as he fell in a cave of concentration, his body far away from his mind.

More people started to arrive, filling in one by one. Sakura and Ino showed up simultaneously, yet refused to stay together as they parted and stopped a few feet from each other.

Neji had been trained to be able to meditate while keeping his ears open to the sounds around himself. He heard some chatter as everyone arrived, cheerful greetings between every individual.

Suddenly, though, Naruto arrived. He arrived with a blur of black, yellow, orange, and a screeching voice.

"I'm here, everyone, and we're gonna find Sasuke! Dattebayo!" he shouted, his voice echoing far in the village and probably waking up half of it.

Some people greeted him with a wave or a friendly smile. But the ocean-blue eyes rested on Tenten and Neji as a foxy grin plastered itself on his face. Ignoring the peaceful aura that drifted around the oldest Hyuuga present, he stopped directly besides him and screamed loudly, "Hey, Neji! You better get that Byakuugan activated so we can find Sasuke first!"

Neji startled slightly as the sound waves struck him from so close, his eyes jerking open to glare at its source. Now rid of his peaceful refuge, he felt a surging annoyance sliding itself through his veins, even though his face remained unmoved. He also chose not to answer, which made Naruto lose interest and drift away to go bug someone else.

In the few seconds that followed, Gai and Lee arrived together, both much too jovial for such an early hour and purpose for the gathering. As soon as they halted, Gai grinned and gave everyone his Nice Guy Pose before asking, "Are we all here?"

A few people looked around, trying to figure out if someone was missing.

Sakura was the first one to give an angry outburst. "Of course, there's someone missing! Do you actually thing that Kakashi-sensei would've been early?"

"Talking about me?"

Everyone's head turned to see Kakashi walking lazily towards them, one of his hands hidden in his pocket while the other one held an orange book. His footsteps were slow and deliberate, yet purposeful.

Naruto looked at a small watch he carried. Then he shook it a few times. Seeing the needles well in place, he muttered a soft, "Kami, he's on time."

Sakura's mouth was hanging freely open as she stared at her Sensei. "That's impossible…"

Kakashi halted his stride when he noticed everyone was staring at him. He took a few seconds to finish the page he was reading, then smiled contently underneath his mask and lowered his distraction. "Are we ready?"

Gai jumped and landed directly in front of the Copy Ninja. "Wait a second, my eternal rival! Your reputation of un-youthfulness, by being always late, precedes you by miles! Why are you on time?"

Kakashi's lone uncovered eye appeared surprised. He fished a scroll from one of his many pockets and opened it. Narrowing his visible eye slightly, he muttered, "This says the mission started at five, which is two hours ago."

A few people, who understood Tsunade's trick, began to snicker as Kakashi took on a depressed look. Yet Naruto, still utterly oblivious, shouted obnoxiously, "Hey, what's going on? How come Kakashi-Sensei was supposed to start two hours before us?!"

"Don't be stupid, Naruto! She asked him to come two hours before us just so he'd actually be on time!" Kiba sighed as he got up to his feet. "Let's go already, or we'll never get this done!"

"Right! Dattebayo!" Naruto shouted, punching the air.

One by one, the fourteen shinobi present split in their respective groups and headed away.

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A/N: Okay, so I know this chapter barely mentioned Tenten. Apologies. The first part was mainly to show the relationship Neji and Hinata developed. Second part was simply an introduction to their mission.

Hope you liked it!

Contest to see who can beat Yumizuki's reviews is still going!

If you guys don't mind, instead of just saying that you liked my chapter, tell me why! I can't improve if I don't know what to work on and what to keep up. ConCrit rules my world.

Take care!


	4. Fire and Flurries

Disclaimer: To say that Naruto is mine is a dream…

Dedicated: Both to sasukesgirl89 and snowqueen184. They helped me with a certain part of the chapter.

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**Chapter Four: Fire and Flurries**

**  
**The day was drawing to an end when the four shinobi arrived at the edge of the forest. All the other groups, along with Gai and Kakashi, had long ago left them to go on their own in the thick woods. For the last few hours, Neji had driven his team alongside the forest with the plan to start farther up than the rest.

The four engaged in the forest at a nod from their Jounin leader, then all of them dispersed slightly. It was an unspoken agreement, in Team Guy, that none of their shinobi would stay close together in case of an attack. Naruto seemed to rapidly adapt to that style and blended in the back of the team, acting a bit like their backup.

They raced rapidly, the frost-covered branches flying fast past their bodies. Neji kept his bloodline limit activated as he scanned his surroundings, finding no trace of any humans within the proximity.

At one point when night was definitely falling, he noticed Tenten stumbling lightly on a tree branch. Prideful, the girl instantly caught her footing and continued on as if nothing had happen. But despite her hurried attempt to cover up her fatigue, their leader saw right through it. He was getting rather winded himself, he had to admit.

Denying their lack of rest would be irresponsible, so Neji halted his stride through the tree branches to stand on a thicker one that would definitely hold his weight. His three Chuunin companions did the same and the forest was silent anew.

Slowly scanning the area with Byakuugan, Neji nodded in satisfaction before saying, "We'll rest for the evening. There's a kilometer before the next clearing, so I suggest we stop there. It's a safe spot, surrounded by hundreds of meters of trees. We'll be well hidden."

Tenten nodded at his reasoning and Lee shot a hand up in the air with a grin plastered on his face. "I will take first watch so that my youthful team can go to sleep peacefully!"

"I'll take the second watch," the female member of their team spoke up, not about to be outdone by the males in the team.

Their propositions went accepted as Neji gave them a glance, "Naruto, do you mind taking the last watch?"

"Of course not!" Naruto jumped in from behind the group so he could have a better view of those he talked to. "From when to when?"

Neji shook his sleeve down to reveal a watch, a habit that Gai had encouraged. Peering at it with slightly narrowed eyes, he said slowly, "Considering it would take us about a half hour to set up our camp, eat a bit, then rest, it will be nine. I suggest we rise before the first light, which would be at five tomorrow morning; giving each of us six hours of sleep tonight."

Naruto winced slightly before exclaiming, "Getting up at five? What the heck, are you crazy? And six hours of sleep isn't enough!"

But the Hyuuga's face remained stoic as they starting hopping from branch to branch once more. Lee, jumping in the defense of his eternal rival, managed to leap, watch where he was going, give Naruto a nice guy pose, and talk all at the same time.

"Five isn't so early, Naruto-san! I woke up every morning at four-thirty to train ultra early with Gai-Sensei! It's proven that your youth is at its best when it's early in the morning!"

"Plus," Tenten argumented, "we can cover more ground that way or take our time getting up instead of rushing around. We'll be more effective that way since the sun will be close to rising then."

The second she finished speaking, the four shinobi landed in the small clearing Neji had found with his bloodline limit.

"Aw man, we'll have to sleep in the snow?" Naruto whined before Tenten made a face of agreement with the blond shinobi.

"Stay back."

At the command from their Jounin leader, the two remaining members of Team Gai and Naruto stepped back while Neji made his way to the center of the clearing. Getting into a stance, he began to spin rapidly, going faster and faster with every second. Yet the spectacle was rapidly finished as the snow flew away and he soon began to dig in the ground.

Slowing to a stop, Neji's face remained emotionless as Lee ran forward and yelled, "Way to go, Neji-san! You cleaned the snow up with your Kaiten!"

"Duh, Lee," Tenten sighed as she stepped in the clean circle Neji had created. Then a shiver crossed her shoulders and she sighed deeply. "It's rather cold, though."

A sly smile then made its way on Tenten's face as she noticed Neji eyeing her. Stretching, she yawned and tossed her bag down on the ground. "A fire would be nice."

Lee, immediately jumping in at the chance to be helpful, dropped his over-packed bag and gave everyone a blinding nice guy pose. "I'll go get firewood, then! I will be right back!"

Just after he was sprinting away, Tenten leaned over and touched Naruto's arm. A friendly smile lit her features as she said, "Would you mind going with him, Naruto? Lee always picks up wet wood and it takes hours for us to start the fire. So unless you don't want your sleep to be cut in half since we're all trying to do the fire…"

The orange-clad shinobi grinned, then nodded as he started to run towards where Lee had gone, his obnoxiously loud voice resonating. "Hey Bushy Brow, wait for me!"

A few seconds of blissful silence fell between the two remaining shinobi as Tenten slowly walked towards Neji. Stopping in front of him, she looked around herself to make sure that Lee and Naruto really had left, then she slung her arms lazily around his shoulders and drew herself close to him.

"I can't believe you did it," Neji said plainly, his arms hanging limply at his sides.

Tenten shot him a teasing smile. "Why not? You're the one who suggested it, and your wish is my command."

Neji lifted his eyes slightly to show exasperation, a sign he only did when they were alone. Finally, he allowed his hard demeanor to soften as he slid his arms around her waist and cradled her close.

Feeling exhausted, she leaned against him fully, allowing him to support her weight. His hands began to slowly streak up and down her back as he closed his eyes, enjoying being in darkness with nothing but the girl he loved clinging to him.

Tenten briefly pulled away and looked up at him, yet he didn't open her eyes. She raised her lips slowly to his, ready to enjoy the stolen kiss she was about to take from him.

"Neji? Tenten?"

The couple ripped apart from one other at the distant voice. Her heart racing frantically, Tenten began to unroll her sleeping bag while Neji activated his Byakuugan to see where the shouter was.

He turned a quarter of a circle to his right just as Ino was popping out of a cluster of trees. "Well, this is great! Dry ground for the night!" she chirped happily, her dark blue eyes glinting while she threw her pack on the dirt.

Sakura came out of the trees next and immediately made her way to Tenten. The younger kunoichi didn't look too pleased as she started to unfurl her own sleeping bag. Shooting a light glare at Ino, she mumbled under her breath, "Finally, I'll get a decent girl to hang around with."  
**  
**Infuriated by the words, Ino started screaming something. Thankfully, though, her voice was hidden under the ruckus Lee made when he barged back in camp with more wood than they'd need for an entire month. Dumping all of them down, an act that made the earth shake, he flashed Neji a smile and spoke out, "Eighty-three dry logs! I think we'll have enough!"

Neji actually closed his eyes in exasperation and gave his head a light shake while Tenten snickered.

Ino, now angry because of Sakura's comment, took her anger out on the newest arrival. "Geez, Lee! We're here for less than twelve hours, don't you think that maybe ten logs would've been enough?"

"If he wanted to bring all these logs with him, then who cares?" Sakura snapped back, making a face at Ino. "He did what he wanted to, it's none of your business, Ino-Pig!"

Yet another fight seemed imminent, yet Lee saved the day once more. Dropping his eighty-three pieces of wood on the soil, his eyes began to shine and Tenten could swear she could see hearts faded into them.

"Sakura-chan! You agreed with me!"

Sakura mumbled some kind of affirmative answer before starting to slide in her sleeping bag. Meanwhile, Naruto's voice began to drift towards them, becoming louder and louder until he burst in the clearing, followed by Shikamaru and Chouji.

Now becoming unnoticed as greetings ensued, Tenten allowed herself to sigh under her breath. The moment had been perfect, so why did Shikamaru's team have to ruin it? Or worse, what if Ino had found them kissing…?

A shiver of displeasure ran through her body at the mere thought before she laid her eyes on Neji. He had raised a hand and was waiting for everyone's attention.

Once everyone had quieted down, he began to talk, "Since we're now eight, I suggest we speak again of who should guard the campsite and when. My team had already established a routine, yet we'll chop it in half. Eight hours of sleep, eight shinobi. One hour of guarding each."

Shikamaru yawned and was already looking enviously at his sleeping bag. "Troublesome…"

They rapidly decided that the order of the night watch would be Lee, Tenten, Neji, Naruto, Sakura, Choji, Ino, and would finish with Shikamaru.

That being done, every shinobi snuggled down in their sleeping bags as Lee began to scramble through his dozens of logs in order to find the perfect ones to start the fire. A cold gust of wind blew past them, drawing a few specks of snow in their perfect circle of earth.

----------

To Tenten, it seemed that the second she had closed her eyes, Lee was on his knees besides her. He gently prodded her shoulder, without a word, then smiled when she cracked her eyes open.

"The time is yours, Tenten-chan," he whispered much-too-loudly, an act that caused the Weapon's Mistress to cringe slightly. Nodding, she mumbled a small noise of affirmation as she sat up slowly, blinking the sleep away from her eyes.

She reluctantly abandoned the comfort of her sleeping bag and crept towards a rather large log that Lee had propped to its side, digging it slightly in the earth so that it wouldn't move. The second Beautiful Green Beast of Konoha handed her a warm-looking cover, then whispered in his loud voice, "There's nothing to report. Not a single sound. It's long to wait all that time doing absolutely nothing, so I suggest you cover up."

The kunoichi nodded and gladly wrapped herself in the warm cover. Then she watched Lee as he crept towards his own sleeping bag, then went completely still as he waited for sleep to take him.

The fire, warm and ablaze, had obviously been replenished just before she had gotten up.

_'Leave it to Lee to put enough wood in there so that I won't have to move a muscle in the hour I'll be guarding,'_ she thought to herself with a light smile, sitting down on the tree bark. Her youth-obsessed teammate had obviously been more tired than he let on, for his breathing had already slowed to a sleep-induced rate.

Naturally, her muscles were aching from the impressive distance they had dashed through the day. She slowly moved her neck from right to left a few times, then stretched her back before slouching down in a more comfortable position. A quick look at her watch told her it was five past ten, which meant that Lee had given her an extra few minutes to sleep and had sacrificed his own.

Minutes drew by and she closed her eyes for a few seconds, keeping her ears alert and ready to pick up any sound that would emerge in the forest. Eventually, though, she felt a small trickle on her forehead and she brushed it away impatiently. Then she brushed another one on her jaw before snapping her eyes open impatiently. Finding nothing that would explain the feeling, she closed her eyes again.

When it happened again, a few minutes ago, Tenten growled to herself and whipped her eyes open, ready to yell at whoever was playing with her mind. But her features softened when she saw what had fallen upon her face and she laughed softly at her own stupidity.

It was snowing.

Just tiny white specks coming down, but it was snowing nonetheless. They drifted down lazily upon her as she dropped her chin in her hand and watched it fall relentlessly, coming down in zigzags towards the earth.

She didn't know how long she watched the snow, but it captivated her. The way she never saw the flakes coming, then they'd finally appear when they were close enough to be detected. They also flew directly in front of the fire, melting with the heat and turning into raindrops as it hit the ground.

Eventually, though, she felt two strong hands being pressed against her shoulder blades. Instantly recognizing the way they held onto her skin, she smiled softly and raised her chin as high as she could, an act that made her lock her eyes with the person holding on to her.

"How come you're up?" she asked in a whisper as the man dropped his hands from her shoulders and sat down on the log besides her.

Neji stared in the fire for a while before eyeing the falling snow. He then gave the lightest of shrugs discernable and murmured, "We barely had any time to ourselves in the last few days. I thought you'd appreciate the visit."

"I do," she answered truthfully. Then, with infinite slowness, she slid one of her hands into his, locking their fingers together tightly. With a rapid look at her watch, she distinguished the time and frowned. "You still have fifteen minutes of sleep, Neji. It wouldn't be fair if—"

She never had the time to finish her sentence because the prodigy's lips were pressed tenderly on hers. All the thoughts flew out of her head and she suddenly wasn't in the middle of a snowy campground with six people sleeping around her. She was in a warm haven, alone with the man that she loved.

They took their sweet time to enjoy the moment before he pulled away first. They both regarded each other wistfully as Tenten felt a fierce longing fill the pit of her stomach. Neji's arms seemed to be calling out to her, but they couldn't risk staying together too long in case they were discovered.

Slowly and with infinite pain, Tenten stood up and whispered softly, "Good night, Neji. Thank you."

The Hyuuga Branch House member gave her one last, sweeping glance before turning his eyes to the fire. The Weapon's Mistress, meanwhile, had crawled back towards her sleeping bag. She looked at his strong back, completely straight with his perfect posture, until sleep came to take her away.**

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**A/N: Heya to my faithful readers and hello to the others! 

Wow, as if I got only four reviews for the last chapter…. v.v that downs a bit… I guess no one liked the filler. But I sure hope you all enjoyed the fluffiness in this chapter because there might not be any in the following.

But hey- I did get added to someone's community! Thank you! That deserves a nice guy pose! –Teeth clings-

Another chapter that wasn't that much to my liking. But then again, my opinion doesn't really matter. Yours do, though.

Take care!


	5. Discovered

Disclaimer: One day, I vow this!

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**Chapter Five: Discovered**

Neji cracked his eyes open when he felt a hand shaking his arm urgently. It only took him the briefest of seconds to be fully awake and sitting up, looking at Shikamaru's concentrated face. Their surrounding was still plunged in darkness, but thanks to the fire and to the paling sky, he could see rather clearly.

The Jounin-to-be placed a finger to his lips, then peered around himself. Slowly, he turned back towards Neji with a knowing look and mouthed the word, "Birds flew past. Something scared them."

The older shinobi nodded and instantly activated his Byakuugan. Within two seconds, he had noticed a figure along a broken path, marching directly towards them about a hundred meters away. The chakra in the person was immense, but the prodigy wasn't too surprised about that observation when he noticed who their intruder was.

"Sasuke," he breathed out in a single breath, so quiet that even Shikamaru looked unsure whether or not he had heard it. Neji confirmed it with a sharp nod.

Shikamaru nodded and they both stood up slowly, all while showing the direction the missing-nin was coming from with a steady hand. As the Hyuuga slowly made his way towards a sleeping body, he judged it was about four-thirty in the morning. Quite an early hour for the Uchiha to be walking about, especially alone.

Kneeling down, he gently shook Lee's shoulder before rapidly shoving his hand on the boy's mouth. Almost choking, the green-clad shinobi struggled for a while before he noticed the intense look in his rival's eye.

Once Neji was satisfied that his captive wouldn't say a word, he released his grip on his mouth and motioned at him to get up. Lee quietly obliged, obviously focusing his attention on staying perfectly alert, unmoving, and staring directly to the point where Shikamaru was standing.

Neji then turned to see Shikamaru crouching besides Chouji. When his best friend opened his eyes, Shikamaru rapidly whispered an order. Doing as he was told, the big-boned shinobi stood up and got some weapons ready, still looking rather exhausted.

His Byakuugan still activated, he noticed that Sasuke was now approximately forty meters away and was coming towards them quickly. With one rapid motion, he had picked a small piece of wood, less than an inch in volume, and had thrown it at another sleeping form.

The wood hit the girl directly in the back and she was awake and alert, with about a dozen of kunais through her fingers, in a flash. Realizing that Neji had jumped away in the tree branches and that Chouji and Shikamaru had vanished, she blinked in surprise before noticing Lee frantically motioning at her to move out of the way.

Within a second, she was also hidden through a cluster of branches, waiting patiently. She knew that Neji wouldn't have woken her up in such a way for nothing, so she focused on trying to find the others. She noticed Shikamaru, barely seeable, nodding in approval at Neji's choice of comrades with a slight smile on his face.

Neji, meanwhile, regarded Ino, Sakura, and Naruto with a light frown. If he would've had more time, he would've awoken the blonde girl as well. Yet the pressing need for secrecy had won over and he had resolved himself to leaving her there.

He had figured that if Sasuke would, in fact, pass through their camp, he was less likely to kill those he had been close to. Even though he had, -numerous times- attempted to take Naruto's life, Neji firmly believed that he wouldn't kill him during his sleep. Sasuke desired power- he wouldn't kill one of his biggest rivals simply when the latter would be asleep. He wanted a challenge.

As for Sakura, the prodigy figured that Sasuke wouldn't kill her just for the heck of it. Many, in the village, enjoyed saying that Sasuke really felt something for the kunoichi. They also thought that even though his thirst for revenge had overshadowed his affection, the youngest remaining Uchiha would return to Konoha, and to Sakura, one day.

Everything was utterly still as Neji now noticed the intruder to be about five meters behind Lee. He furrowed his brows the slightest in concentration as his ancient teammate obviously felt the chakra presence from behind him.

Almost like a cat, Lee bounded away at the last second and landed on another tree branch father away, an act that caused the light snow to trickle down. Neji inclined his head the slightest in relief that he hadn't been caught. The snow that had fallen wouldn't really matter, since it was still snowing lightly, just like the night earlier when he had kissed Tenten in front of the fire…

_'Focus!'_ his mind shouted, and he immediately brought his attention forward. He knew that every shinobi there was concealing their chakra presence, all except the three that still slept and the one that was coming.

Finally, Sasuke stepped in the clearing, then stopped in his tracks as he eyed the three sleeping people plainly. He remained impassive, his dark eyes scooting from Ino, to Sakura, to Naruto, then began to slowly do a back-and-forth from his ancient teammates.

Sadly, Naruto chose that moment to wake up. Yawning, he sat up and stretched lazily before resting his eyes on Sasuke.

He blinked once. Twice. Then the outburst came.

"Sasuke!" he screamed, jumping up to his feet. His shout drew the two girls from their sleep as he continued, "W-Wait! You weren't supposed to find us! We were supposed to be the ones catching you, not the reverse!"

Sakura was now sitting up as Ino scrambled to her feet. The pink-haired girl stared at Sasuke wordlessly as her rival looked around herself, trying to figure out where the others had run off.

The missing-nin obviously had the same thought, for he allowed his eyes to drift around the area before shouting, "Seven sleeping bags, but only three of them filled. Come out, all of you. It's not worth any time to haunt you all."

Shikamaru was the first one down and gave a sign, which made Chouji also hop from his tree. Neji, meanwhile, was glaring at his backpack, which uselessly rested directly besides his sleeping bag. All the nine flares, which would've alerted anyone by then, rested safely in the bottom. It was completely impossible for him to access them now since Sasuke was standing about three feet away from the bundle.

Knowing that Lee and Tenten would never jump down unless he commanded them to, he took the first initiative and landed gracefully behind the Uchiha. The latter turned his head lightly towards the prodigy, glaring directly in his eyes. Neji didn't flinch as he returned the stare with double the intensity.

"Obviously," Sasuke started coldly, "Shikamaru is a leader. You must be the second one, Hyuuga."

The interlocutor didn't answer; he only stared back with his face devoid of emotion.

The Sharingan-user continued, "Shikamaru had brought one of his allies in the trees, which was Chouji. Meaning that you surely did the same. Command the person down.."

A flash of anger lit itself up in Neji's eyes as he finally relented and, in a strict and clear voice that resembled Hiashi's, ordered, "Lee, come down."

The bowl-haired shinobi jumped down from the branch he was standing on, his face hard with pure determination. He stared straight at Sasuke, waiting for the younger boy to comment on the eighth sleeping bag that was lying--

Wait. Where was Shikamaru's sleeping bag?

Neji also had noticed its disappearance. But, unlike Lee, he understood exactly what Shikamaru had done. Hearing the missing-nin coming forward, he had known that confrontation was unavoidable. Therefore, he had hidden his pack away from them, so it would appear to Sasuke that they were only seven shinobi instead of eight.

Meanwhile, crouched in the tree, Tenten was seething with anger as she watched the eight people under her give glaring and staring matches between them all. Tension hung high in the air, but the girl felt more a rage boiling inside.

_'Neji, if this is your weird way to protect me, I'll kill you!'_ her mind shouted. _'I can't believe you picked Lee to come in the open before me! It's not because I'm a woman that I'd do a lesser job!'  
_  
As she was thinking, her hand slid into a small pouch of weapons that she kept tucked away on her right shin in case of an emergency. It had become a habit, when emotions would attempt to overrule her judgment, for her to twirl a weapon in her fingers.

Yet when her hand attempted to grab the iron weapon, her hands closed themselves around something… plastic-y. Lowering her eyes, she pulled out the foreign object and her eyes widened in surprise.

A flare, covered in a thin plastic sheet.

_'But Neji was supposed to be the one with the ten flares in case of an emergency…'_ she thought, eyeing the safety net. But then her lips curled into a smile. _'I guess that he didn't underestimate me after all.' _

Noiselessly, the girl quickly and soundlessly leaped from her branch and landed away from them, then burst into a run as fast as she could. Her lover, but in this case her Jounin leader, had given her a task; she would be damned before she disappointed him. 

----------

Sasuke frowned lightly. Everyone seemed to be calm. Especially Neji and Shikamaru. The two leaders simply made sure that he was surrounded completely and wouldn't escape by any chance. He made sure that the Hyuuga rested on the edge of his vision, keeping him in view since he didn't trust him at all.

He was way too calm.

"Sasuke?"

He wordlessly shot a glare at the pink-haired kunoichi who spoke.

"Can you come back home, now? Back to Konoha, with us?"

The boy huffed. Without answering her question, he asked one of his own. "Why are you all so quiet?"

Naruto suddenly growled and jumped towards his past comrade. "Come on, Sasuke! We all want you to come down without a fight, so give up already!"

Naruto's words made the Uchiha's face harden as an icy smile slid on his lips. "Give up?" His words came out through a growl as his hand lazily rested upon his sword. "You'll just have to bring me down first."

As if on cue, a bright flare resonated in the distance, flying directly towards the sky. It burst into flames directly above the eight shinobi's heads, the bright red lighting all of their faces at once. A clear signal that boomed for meters and meters and would alert anyone in its path.

Instantly angered, Sasuke gritted his teeth, realizing that there had been a shinobi that had, somehow, escaped his line of vision. His eyes, which had once been onyx, turned a bloody red as his voice angrily snapped, "Sharingan!"

"Byakuugan!"

Slowly turning in a circle as Shikamaru distantly warned everyone to be careful, Sasuke rested his eyes on Neji. Two bloodline limits wielded by both prodigies, so envied by other shinobi, locked in each other forcefully.

Then, while Neji raised a hand in front of him and the other one behind him in his Jyuuken pose, Sasuke smirked confidently. Without wasting a second, the Sharingan-user pulled out a thin and deadly-looking katana from its sheath and had started to dash towards his adversary.

* * *

A/N: All hail fast updates!

Yes, I know, I posted this uber fast. Got a snow day today, there's about three to five feet of snow in my backyard. XD My neighbor's pool is literally getting buried lol. Poor guy.

I know that this chapter's a bit shorter than all the others, but it really had been a long time that I hadn't ended on a cliffhanger. After all, my readers love me because of them… -Cue cricket noises- … right?

Keep up reviewing!

Take care!


	6. Ancient Rivals

Disclaimer: Maybe Santa will bring me an ownership contract...

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**Chapter Six: Ancient Rivals  
**  
Instantly angered, Sasuke gritted his teeth, realizing that there had been a shinobi that had, somehow, escaped his line of vision. His eyes, which had once been onyx, turned a bloody red as his voice angrily snapped, "Sharingan!"

"Byakuugan!"

Slowly turning in a circle as Shikamaru distantly warned everyone to be careful, Sasuke rested his eyes on Neji. Two bloodline limits wielded by both prodigies, so envied by other shinobi, locked in each other forcefully.

Then, while Neji raised a hand in front of him and the other one behind him in his Jyuuken pose, Sasuke smirked confidently. Without wasting a second, the Sharingan-user pulled out a thin and deadly-looking katana from its sheath and had started to dash towards his adversary.

Neji didn't waste a second to duck the mighty swing from the younger prodigy. Concentrating chakra in his right palm, he hurriedly shoved his hand forward towards a single chakra point in Sasuke's stomach, a hit that would definitely impair the guy for quite a few hours.

Sadly, though, his hand only skimmed the edge of Sasuke's shirt and harmlessly passed besides him. But Neji then hurriedly twirled around and, before Sasuke could use his sword, gently prodded a spot near his shoulder.

Sasuke twitched in annoyance as the older boy jumped away and drew out a few kunai and shuriken. He deflected them with an annoyed look on his face and glanced at his shoulder with a small frown.

Yet Neji didn't have a chance to continue his attack since Naruto jumped in and grabbed Sasuke's shoulder.

"Hey, teme! Why aren't you fighting me?" he screamed, waving his free hand in the air in annoyance.

Sasuke only shot him an uninterested look before bitingly snapping, "Shut up. You're not worth fighting…"

Slowly, he then began to look around himself at the faces of his fellow comrades, which were now his enemies. Frowning lightly, he shook his head and shrugged Naruto's hand away before saying solemnly, "It is tempting to fight you all, but you definitely outnumber me. I thought Konoha shinobi all played the game by the rules."

Lee jumped in the conversation. "Rules? Like what? Konoha doesn't have any!"

Sasuke didn't even shoot him a glance, obviously dubbing him as unimportant. He answered him nonetheless, "Rules that makes you all weaker. Rules that keeps you all from the true power. By leaving Konoha, an act that I definitely **do not** regret, I have gained the knowledge of the things that you all lack: how to gain true strength."

"Maybe you have gained power, Uchiha," Shikamaru grumbled from his position, "but you've paid a price. A price that you'll definitely regret paying for when all this will be over with. Because eventually, when you won't be able to get any stronger, you'll be lost. All your friends, your home… you all traded for power and now there's nothing left."

"Nothing left?" A twisted smile lit up Sasuke's lips. "Oh, but I'm sure there is something left. After all, you'd take me in no matter what, wouldn't you Sakura?"

The pink haired kunoichi was eyeing Sasuke warily, yet it wasn't hard to see that she was broken-hearted. Her eyes glinted in light admiration as she glanced at the man that she had truly loved her entire life. Yet when his words registered and their meaning struck, she visibly flinched and turned her head guiltily.

"Now," Sasuke continued, "let's discuss the way that this flare got lit, shall we?"

In a flash, he vanished from his spot in front of Neji and landed directly behind Ino. In one fluid motion, he had sealed her wrists in chakra strings and had his katana to her throat. Smirking at shocked faces from Lee, Sakura, Naturo, and Chouji, he shrugged lightly and sighed.

"Maybe I turned away from my friends in order to gain strength, but I find it damn useful now!" He then turned back serious as he pressed the blade slightly against her fair skin. A thin line of blood appeared where his weapon had touched her and she cringed visibly, instantly trying to move her bonded wrists.

"Information against life, a fair exchange I suppose."

Neji narrowed his eyes lightly, yet didn't move. He noticed that Lee did the same, completely refusing to hand one of his bests friends over for Ino.

"After all, we have all the time in the world, haven't we?"

The silence was choking as Sasuke waited patiently. Neji glared warningly at every single shinobi whether or not they noticed it while Lee pleadingly looked towards the sky. Minutes passed as Ino began to struggle uselessly against her bonds. Suddenly, though, a voice broke through the quietness.

"Tenten is the one who set the flare. She's gone east."

----------

Meanwhile, the Weapons Mistress of the Leaf Village was fiddling with her weapons as she waited. Neji had obviously sent her away as a backup, so she would remain as one. No need to jump in the mass of shinobi over there- she had to be ready in case something would happen.

Just as she was wondering whether or not someone had seen her flare, a large gust of wind struck her face, bringing a cloud of snow over. Thinking it was a one-time thing, she didn't expect it when another one hit her harshly. Then a third, a fourth, and a fifth.

"Geez," she mumbled under her breath. "Nothing like a small storm to brighten up this day."

Stretching lazily, she looked at her surroundings and wished that she had Neji's bloodline limit. The Byakuugan seemed like such a useful ability at the moment that she almost wished she could discover its secrets and steal it herself.

When yet another wind gust hit her face, Tenten turned around in utter annoyance. Glaring around herself, a trait that she had taken from her sparring partner, she directed her eyes towards the direction of wind and began to plow through the area in search for its cause.

Suddenly she picked up some strange noises in the distance. Quickening her feet, she rapidly crossed the remaining meters until she noticed a few people struggling in the distance.

Or rather, a few people getting their ass whipped by a single kunoichi.

As Tenten landed on a branch, she gave a light smirk as the remaining two shinobi from the Sound village plead the woman, who only rolled her eyes in annoyance. After raising her hand, which held a massive fan, she swiped it down rapidly and gusts of air struck the two shinobi at lightning speed, propelling them towards a tree. When they struck the thick bark and a sickening crack was heard, Tenten knew that neither had a chance of survival.

The woman, looking rather uncomfortable with her thick navy coat and heavy leggings, folded her fan slowly and placed it in its holder, which was tied securely on her back with a leather strap. She took a step towards Tenten, then froze as her dark blue eyes shockingly met light brown ones.

It took a brief second, but the Konoha kunoichi recognized her nonetheless. Half of her mind, still slightly bitter from her loss to the woman years ago, wanted to turn her back on the Suna female. Yet the other- and more responsible- part of her told her that the seven shinobi back at camp needed all the help they could get.

Anyways, Tsunade had also told them that the Kazekage would've sent a liaison. Whom better than his own sister? So it was her duty to bring the lady towards their party.

Sabaku no Temari's hand twitched towards her fan, but Tenten held up a hand in peace.

"Are you here because of the flare?" the older woman questioned simply, her hand still resting on her fan.

"I'm the one who sent it out," Tenten answered coolly, her own fingers sliding over her weapon pouch strapped to her thigh. "We've found Sasuke."

The Suna kunoichi only placed a confident smirk on her lips, then jumped forward on the same tree branch as Tenten. "Well, we shouldn't keep him waiting!"

As the blonde woman dashed past the brown-haired one, Tenten looked up bitterly at the sky as she was reminded of her Chuunin exams. Her failure in front of everyone else had stung to her for years, no matter how she kept telling herself that she had passed the second time around.

Then again, Lee was always telling her that she failed the first time at both her Chuunin and Jounin exams, but that she'd pass both times around. This was, in Lee's way of seeing things, a compliment.

Shrugging, the girl followed Temari through the trees. Her eyebrows were knitted together in a frown, but she remained completely quiet and sped up in order to take the lead. Temari shot her a slight glare, but Tenten passed her while muttering, "I know the way there, I should be the one in front."

Minutes later, Tenten halted on the tree branch that Neji had been standing on earlier and stared down at the frantic show that was occurring below her. Temari also halted on a neighbor branch and stared, a fine eyebrow lifted in curiosity.

It was general mayhem down there.

Lee, along with Sakura, were yelling angrily at a stung-looking Ino. Naruto was shouting in the distance at a long-gone Sasuke and was waving his hands in the air rapidly.

Shikamaru seemed to be dozing against a tree, his arms folded behind his head for comfort. Sitting besides him, Chouji simply watched the chaos around himself as he devoured a bag of barbecue chips, his eyes half-lidded with pleasure.

Neji, for his part, had vanished from the area.

* * *

A/N: And what happens next? Why are everyone freaking out? Who actually sold Tenten out? It will have to wait a few days since I will be gone for Christmas celebrations for a while. Now that I'm on it, merry Christmas and happy holidays to those who celebrate it!

Another short chapter, I know. So sorry, but unless you wanted you chapter in five days, I had to post it now!

Leave a review!  
Take care!


	7. Bad Attitude

Disclaimer: You really think I do? Aww, thank you! But I don't.

* * *

**Chapter Seven: Bad Attitude**

Seconds passed and the chaos in the forest simply intensified in volume. Seeing as Lee was yelling at Ino for seemingly no reason, Tenten pulled out a shuriken and, with impeccable aim, threw it directly besides him. The steel weapon skimmed his clothing before it sunk in the ground a few feet away.

Lee stoppd yelling and looked up curiously. His eyes then began shining as he threw up his arms and yelled, "Tenten-chan! You're alright!"

"Of course I am," the kunoichi sighed as she jumped down the branch. Looking around slowly, she tried to figure out where Neji had gone. Since there wasn't a single trace of him, Tenten frowned lightly and asked, "Hey, where's--"

"Sasuke!" Temari finished in annoyance, jumping down from her own tree branch in a flurry of snowflakes. "I thought he was here! I followed that damned flare for nothing, I see!"

"He was here two minutes ago, before that bitch sold you out, Tenten!" Sakura yelled, pointing accusingly at a crestfallen Ino. "She was so scared of dying that she told him where you were!"

Ino immediately grew defensive and she crossed her arms over her chest and tilted her head away. "Maybe if you had a katana on your throat, you might have considered doing so as well! Plus, I knew that Tenten would be strong enough to hold her own against Sasuke!" The two girls ended their heated dialogue by glaring daggers at each other, then turning their heads in opposite directions.

Blinking as Lee began to rant on how worried he was for his 'youthful flower of a teammate', she attempted to tune him out and to focus on her visual search for Neji. Still failing, she snapped out curtly, "Where's Neji?"

Lee instantly shut up before considering the question and starting to rant once more. "Neji-kun! After Ino told Sasuke where you were and that villan ran after you, Neji just glared at us all before running after him! He didn't say where he was going! What if he has problems!?"

Then, unmistakably, he shouted, "Gai-sensei! Where are you?"

Rolling her eyes, Tenten nervously looked around one last time before staring at Shikamaru. "Hey, Shikamaru? Are you seriously going to let Neji run after Sasuke alone? I thought you were Jounin and, in my opinion, it's kind of irresponsible to let him do something like that."

She vaguely heard Temari scoff in the background, but her attention was so focused on Shikamaru's lazy reply that she barely heard her. "First, I'm not a Jounin, so I shouldn't have the responsibilities of one. Secondly, Neji's the leader of another team and I figured he was old enough to do his own choices."

Whipping her head towards Lee, she turned her growing annoyance on him. "Are you going to let Neji, your best friend and rival, battle a missing nin on his own?"

Her eyes then snapped to Naruto. "And will you let him fight Sasuke and maybe defeat him without your help?"

Naruto, suddenly snapped back to reality, shouted, "Of course not! Let's go, dattebayo!"

Just as Tenten was about to leave, she heard the smallest of noise behind herself and whirled around to distinguish its source. Her eyes instantly locked with Neji's, who was an inch behind her, and she stumbled slightly from the sudden proximity. He never explained why he had come back so suddenly, he only stepped around her and went to retrieve his things.

"I think we should leave," Neji sternly said as he picked up his unfurled sleeping bag. "And split up, we'll cover more ground that way."

Silence followed his statement before Naruto broke it by jumping in front of Neji. The prodigy glared at him in obvious annoyance before saying in a controlled voice, "Yes, Naruto?"

"Well, where did he go? You followed him; you might as well have an idea as to where he is! Plus you can use Byakuugan, so tell us where he went and we can all jump him toget—"

Naruto went completely ignored as Neji roughly finished picking up his things, then shot the blond shinobi –who was still babbling uselessly- a lethal glare. He thankfully got the silent order and went to retrieve his things, still mumbling under his breath.

When Neji turned his intimidating stare on Lee, the green-clad shinobi turned his own eyes away and also began to pick up the things around their improvised campground. Yet when he focused on the last person in their group of four, he met an equal amount of stubbornness in her attitude-filled eyes.

"What's wrong with you?" Tenten snapped, raising a hand in questioning. "Why are you being such a jackass suddenly?"

Angling his body towards her, Neji's features only hardened as he hissed dangerously, "Either pick up your things or stay behind."

A long, awkward silence filled the clearing. Even Naruto stopped talking, while Lee dropped the bag he had been previously filling. All eyes turned to Tenten, as Neji turned his back to her and jumped up in the tree. Turning his head lightly, he lifted a prompting eyebrow at the girl as she glowered at him.

Then, reluctantly, Tenten went to gather her things. A strange weight had begun to press itself on her chest as she swallowed hardly and shoved the things in her bag harder than necessary. Let Neji see that he had angered her; he might regret it later.

_'Regret? Wait, who am I fooling? It's Hyuuga Neji we're talking about, here…' _

Forcing herself to keep her voice level, she broke through the heavy silence and asked softly, "Where will Temari go? Tsunade-sama did ask us to bring her along." 

More silence. Neji was obviously not going to allow the Suna kunoichi to join their team, so Sakura smiled at the older woman and said, "You can come with us! We'd love to have you here, won't we guys?"

Ino had her eyes closed and was sulking, still miffed from what had happened earlier. Chouji was just finishing his chips and had his face literally in the bag, trying to see if he had forgotten a precious crumb.

Shikamaru, for his part, only shrugged and mumbled his favorite word, "Troublesome."

"Are you ready?" Neji spoke again to his teammates, clearly getting agitated by the fact that they weren't moving fast enough.

"Yosh, Neji-kun!" Lee shouted dynamically, punching the air. He was surely the only person on earth to be able to wear a smile through such a tense atmosphere.

"Yeah, we have to stop Sasuke!" Naruto also yelled, jumping on a tree branch and turning to look at his current female teammate.

Shouldering her backpack, Tenten looked up defiantly at Neji, her face hard. The Jounin only glared back at her before narrowing his eyes slightly and asking, "Will you be joining us, Tenten, or will you stay down there all day?"

A sudden image of herself squishing a chibi Neji appeared in the kunoichi's mind before she forced herself to push it away. Nodding slowly, she looked up at the man who was supposed to be her lover, unable to say anything.

The Jounin didn't even show that he had acknowledged her nod; he simply turned his back to her and began to jump from branch to branch. Naruto and Lee instantly followed their leader's trail.

After a few seconds, Tenten also began to follow them, trying to ignore the voice in her mind that shouted that there was something that was terribly wrong.

----------

Hours later, when noon approached, Neji stopped by a small frozen stream. Raising a hand to stop the others, he waved at them to stop. He knew that Tenten had lagged a while, probably to piss him off. Just for that, he wouldn't even notice her, wouldn't give her the satisfaction to know that he was bothered by her rebelling actions.

"Go hunt for dinner, there must be deer nearby," he ordered simply as he dropped his pack. "I'll get wood. Tell Tenten it applies to her as well when she'll get here."

Naruto began to excitedly say how he loved to hunt, but it fell on dead ears. Neji had already left while Lee was looking back in the forest, his smile gone. He patiently waited about a minute, then a blank-faced Tenten appeared. She halted on the branch besides him and met his searching eyes.

"What?" she questioned as Lee stared at her for a few seconds.

He frowned, his thick brows nearly meeting together, before saying, "I believe I know you enough, Tenten-chan, to know when you're happy and when you're not. Right now, you're obviously upset and I want to know what's wrong."

Tenten broke her eyes away from him and sighed, choosing to watch Naruto instead. He was already barging away to get some food when his feet touched the ice and he slid. His behind connected sharply with the ice and a howl of pain left his lips.

Smiling weakly, she returned her attention to Lee before saying, "I don't know why Neji was so harsh, earlier. The way he ordered me around like I was absolutely nothing… it kind of stung."

Lee turned from being concerned to utterly happy. He flashed her a nice guy pose before grinning madly and saying in an over-exited voice, "I think Neji-kun was worried for you!"

Tenten raised an eyebrow incredulously before nearly starting to laugh. A smirk even crossed her lips as she placed her hands on her hips and shook her head.

"Right, Lee. Neji was worried for my safety. I'll believe that any day."

"He was!" the black-haired shinobi contested, his face still split in a smile. "The second that Sasuke left to find you, he activated his Byakuugan and practically flew to rescue you! Oh, but there was no stopping him! Bet you that even Hiashi-sama himself could've been there and Neji would've rushed past him without a glance! Then you pop up, alone, without needing his help, and Neji comes back with his ego bruised!" Another nice guy pose.

Still unconvinced, for Lee often saw things that he _wanted_ to see instead of things that were actually there, Tenten eyed the direction that Neji had taken.

Lee sighed, then took his friend's hand and squeezed it rapidly before dropping it. "Go see him," he ordered with a grin. "I'll find your supper! Go on!"

They both hopped down from the tree, but the second their feet hit the ground, their Jounin leader appeared, carrying a few logs. He tossed them on the floor before glaring at Tenten.

"Make the fire," he ordered crisply, starting to walk towards a snow-less area. Sitting down in his usual position, he closed his eyes and began to meditate. Yet the aura coming from him, which was usually peaceful and calm, was now threatening and dangerous. Tenten looked down at the wood, then shrugged to Lee and began to place them in order to make an efficient fire

"Go see him!" Lee whispered once more, smiling encouragingly. Then he went off to join Naruto, who was still struggling to get to his feet on the slippery ice.

Taking Lee's advice, something that she hadn't done often, the kunoichi dropped the wood and made her way to her sparring partner. Kneeling down, she pressed a hand on his shoulder and murmured softly, "Neji, tell me what's wrong."

Snapping his eyes open, Neji growled, "Leave me alone."

It was one thing to see Neji being a jackass; it was another to see him growl. Blinking in confusion, Tenten dropped her voice to the merest whisper. "Whatever happened, you know you can tell me anything. I love you enough for that."

A small light lit up Neji's eyes and he seemed to relax, which she was thankful for. Getting up, she took a step away before Neji roughly grabbed her wrist. He had also gotten up to his feet and he rapidly spun her around. Pulling her to him savagely, he shoved his mouth on hers and kissed her harshly, his second hand roaming to places it shouldn't.

Pulling away, Tenten watched as Neji's eyes looked hungrily at her body, his breaths quickening. She vaguely noticed Lee and Naruto staring on her left, but she couldn't pass another coherent thought as Neji's mouth rammed on hers once more.

Raising her arms, she placed them on his shoulders and attempted to push him away. This was so sudden, so unexpected, that she hadn't even considered it to be… utterly abnormal.

As seconds passed, she was suddenly aware of a blur moving to her right. It was only on the very edge of her peripheral vision, so there was no way for her to properly identify the source of the movement.

After a few seconds, though, Neji's body stiffened and he pulled away, his face contorting with pain. Then, he suddenly vanished in a puff of smoke and, in his place, a log imbedded with a few kunai fell to the ground.

Her mind reeling, Tenten took a step backward and looked around, her lack of comprehension evident. She snapped her head to her right and her misty eyes connected with Neji's collected ones.

"Are you alright, Tenten?" he asked her softly, taking a step towards her.

Her brain still unable to grasp what had happened, she backed away from him, all while raising a trembling finger to her bruised lips. Her eyes, filled with distrust, eyed him bitterly as she waited for an explication.

Seeing that she wouldn't allow him to to closer unless he explained, Neji placed his hands in his pocket before murmuring, "I apologize for being so late. The Uchiha trapped me in a genjutsu that took quite a long time to get out of." A light frown tweaked at his features. "It was such a high level technique that, even with my Byakuugan, it took me hours. I came here as fast as I could as soon as I had figured how to breach it. Sasuke must've taken my form and followed you all to escape Shikamaru's group."

"B-but why did he kiss me?" Tenten blinked unsurely.

Neji's frown deepened the slightest. "Did you tell him anything that might've come across as romantic?"

"I told him I loved him," she mumbled as she winced in annoyance.

Neji remained impassive as he reasoned quietly, "Then he probably thought everyone knew about us and that kissing you would appear normal to everyone."

Softening, Tenten nodded and a light smile slid onto her face. Her eyes softened and she admitted, "I knew it couldn't have been you. He was being a real bastard anyways."

Meanwhile, Naruto nudged Lee while staring at the two. "Geez, Bushy Brow! I was almost scared when I saw Neji coming out of the tree and that clone was kissing Tenten! His face went all dark and angry! I never saw him getting so worked up!"

Lee, who was grinning so hard that his mouth was starting to hurt, gave Naruto a thumbs-up. "Jealousy, my friend! Ah, I'm sure there's something in our youthful leader's mind that escapes us all!"

Naruto only stared. "Yeah."

Then Lee giggled childishly, his eyes glinting madly. "Best thing is, I don't think that Tenten hated it when 'Neji' kissed her! I think she actually enjoyed it since the effort she gave to push him away was almost non-existent!"

Naruto didn't have the chance to reply, since he then heard something that made his mouth drop open. Something that he had never thought he'd hear a girl say in his entire life.

In fact, Tenten had, with her eyes shut in disgust and her face crinkled, shouted clearly enough to be understood by anyone in the area.

"Ew! I just kissed Uchiha Sasuke!"

* * *

A/N: And this is my pathetic attempt at humor! Hehe, hope you all enjoyed the small twist.

This so didn't happen like it should have! It was planned so differently than what it came out as that it's frightening me. Actually… what happened was I wrote up until the kiss, then reread everything and thought, "Wow… this can't be Neji…" So how to remedy to that situation? Turn it into: It isn't him!

Well I hope you enjoyed! Thanks so much to those who faithfully review! You're all amazing!

Take care!


	8. The First Snowfall

Disclaimer: I swear he told me I could own Naruto! But then… I woke up!

* * *

**Chapter Eight: The First Snowfall **

"Where are we off to now?" Lee's voice rang out through the quiet of the forest. 

Tenten shrugged as she leaned over and shook Naruto's shoulder lightly. "Get up, we're almost ready to go!"

Neji, all while keeping a careful eye on his three teammates, swept the area with his byakuugan. Sasuke wasn't in range of his two hundred meter's sight; there was work to be done.

Due to Neji's extensive usage of his chakra, they had taken a break last night and had camped out, even though it had only been three in the afternoon. The rest and relaxation, though, as soothing as it may have been, definitely had its downfall.

"Whatdayamean, it'sfourinthemorning?" Naruto drawled in annoyance when his eyes fell upon his watch. He blinked sleep out of his tired-looking eyes and attempted to locate Neji, yet failed since the visibility was reduced due to…

"It's snowing," Lee jumped up and down happily. "I can't believe it! This is amazing; we'll have our mission in snow!"

Neji ignored him as Naruto sat up, yawning loudly. Tenten, meanwhile, only made a face at his statement. Sure, snow was fun to watch and maybe even to train in since it added challenge. But to have a perilous, nearly A-ranked mission through it? She wasn't so sure about her feelings towards the wet, falling substance anymore.

"We took it easy yesterday," Neji commented gently, which got Naruto's attention. "We can't lag behind another day, it's unthinkable."

Lee gave a Nice Guy pose to everyone before shouting, "Yes! We'll find the others so that we can share what we know about Sasuke! If we cannot find them until daybreak, then I will not sleep tomorrow night and guard well so that my comrades can each have a full night of sleep!"

Naruto eyed Lee warily. "But Bushy Brow, won't you be tired?"

"Drop it, Naruto," Tenten sighed as the orange-clad ninja packed his stuff. "There's no way for us to change his mind over his self-punishment, so—"

"Training, my youthful flower! Not punishment, but additional training!" Lee spoke up with a thumbs-up.

"Doesn't matter," Neji ended the conversation, turning around to face them. He had just put out the fire, which was still sizzling as the smokes rose against the falling snowflakes. As he turned, Tenten could see that his hair was tainted with the white specks. He shook his head the slightest, which made some of them fall, yet the majority remained.

Even as they started to run, Tenten couldn't quite keep her eyes from the Prodigy. Somehow, the flying snowflakes dancing around him gave off such an aura that, even when Lee asked her if she was okay –to which she numbly nodded-, she couldn't tear her eyes away. His white clothing contrasted with the darkness provided by the early morning while his stark black hair contrasted with the pure, colorless snow.

After Lee's question, Neji turned lightly to shoot her a warning look. With the slightest nod she could muster, she lowered her head and forced her eyes away. There was no need for them to provoke a series of questioning from their teammates, anyways.

As the day wore on, they found little to no sign of anyone or anything living. Only dead vegetation, rocks, trees, and snow were present within Neji's bloodline limit. Eventually, though, he noticed someone approaching them.

Trained to remark one's chakra, Neji recognized the flow immediately, having seen it for most of his life. Even though he was supposed to declare the incomer to his teammates so they could brace themselves, he decided to let it slide. It would cause too much of a commotion anyways, he might as well enjoy the pleasing silence while it lasted. Before it would be broken by…

"Well, well, well! Who do we have here!" a green, orange, and black blur suddenly yelled as it halted on a tree branch. He gave them all a nice guy pose, then his grin widened as Lee practically tackled him in a hug.

"Gai-sensei!"

Truthful to their routine, the older man hugged Lee as fiercely, his eyes welling up with prideful tears. "Lee!"

Strangely, though, Lee jumped away from his sensei instead of finishing their usual routine. He proudly grinned and gave a thumbs up before yelling, "We found Sasuke, Gai-sensei!"

The Jounin blinked once as he looked at the team, his face turning serious. "Where is he?"

"He escaped!" Naruto filled in, growling. "But we'll get him back and this time, he has no choice but to follow us or we'll clobber him! Dattebayo!"

Gai directed his attention to Neji and Tenten. The former remained emotionless as Tenten shrugged helplessly. "What he said."

Closing his eyes, the area around Gai almost visibly darkened as he placed a hand on his forehead. Then, with a dramatic edge to his voice, said solemnly, "Lee, you have failed me. You allowed the object of your mission to get away."

The darkening of the air moved to Lee, as the boy's face fell and his eyes widened drastically. The implications of his sensei's words fell into place and he stumbled slightly under the mental burden, almost falling off his branch.

"B-but Gai-sensei! It was impossible to stop him! He was too fast and—"

"I told him not to."

All heads turned to Neji, who was leaning carelessly against a branch with his hands in his pockets. He, with much annoyance, brushed a drop of melted snow that was falling annoyingly over his face before continuing, "Sasuke was going to meet some allies, which means that he's not alone in this forest like we expected him to. We can't just go after him one at a time."

"But you left on your own!" Naruto shouted accusingly at his leader, still unhappy that Neji had ordered him to stay behind.

Lee suddenly grew happy again. "He left to find Tenten-chan, though! You were worried about her, right Neji-kun?"

Neji felt his eye twitching with anger, but he simply chose to answer coolly. "I would've done the same thing for anyone else in my team, Lee."

"Good, Neji!" Gai gave him a grin. "I'm proud of you! But Lee…"

Cue another dark cloud circling the younger Green Beast's head.

"I expected more of you! As a punishment, you will have to…" he halted and seemed to consider the proper form of torture to inflict upon his poor student. Finally, he brightened and said, "Actually, I've changed my mind! Obviously, you three Chuunins are too much to handle for one Jounin, so from now on, I will accompany you all! Especially to keep an eye on you, Lee!" Another Nice Guy pose followed his words.

Neji now visibly twitched with the fact that he now had to handle Lee, Naruto, AND Gai all at the same time. Tenten felt herself smirking and coughed to cover it up, yet the smile remained glued on her face. The situation was just too ironic to be taken with a straight face.

But Neji relented finally, shrugging. "Let's get going, then," he ordered calmly as he jumped towards the following tree branch.

----------

"Goodness!" Tenten heard Gai shout from behind her. "This is quite the snowfall we're getting!"

He couldn't be more right than that. The small amount of snow that had fallen these last few days didn't even come close to measuring to today's. They had started their run at four that morning and it was now two in the afternoon. Eight hours and about two feet of snow had fallen through the forest.

The kunoichi was now used to shivering, since she couldn't stop doing so ever since lunchtime. Her teeth clattered together rapidly as her wet hair annoyingly dripped on her face. Once again, a drop of almost-freezing water made its way inside her collars, gently sliding down the skin of her back. It wasn't the first one and it certainly wouldn't be the last one, and every single one added to her misery.

"This is insane!" Naruto shouted back, his words coming out through a puff of smoke. "We'll have to stop soon if this lets up!"

Lee, who was following Neji up front, slowed down to be able to follow the conversation. Seeing her chance to grab a few seconds with her sparring partner, Tenten quickened her feet and hurried towards him.

"Neji!" she called out after she had crossed the distance.

The dark-haired Jounin shot her a look, then halted on a branch for a few seconds before starting the run again once she had caught up with him. He swept an eye on her, noticing her chattering teeth before saying just loud enough for her to hear, "Do you want us to take a break, Tenten?"

"Not yet," she answered firmly, not wanting to slow everyone down just because she was cold. "But like Naruto said, we might not have a choice soon."

Neji almost smirked, the corner of his mouth twitching with amusement. His Byakuugan was activated as he ran, and after a moment of silence he suddenly asked, "Why do you think Gai came with us?"

Not even considering it, Tenten rolled her eyes switftly. "What other reason than to be with his youthful Genin team!"

But Neji surprised her by shaking his head, the impression of a smirk still on his features. "He joined us because he didn't want to stop for the day."

The obvious question then came from the kunoichi, "What do you mean?"

"My Byakuugan can see through snow. Right now, it's like running through cold rain, but it doesn't affect my vision. I could go through the entire night without missing a beat, no matter how hard the snow becomes," he explained curtly. "Anyone else would have to stop after a while, but Gai knew that I'd push my team to its limits. Technically, our team and Hinata-sama's are the best off right now. Snow can be a coverage, but to anyone who can't see through it, it can impair them as well."

"True," Tenten answered, slightly awed by the fact that Neji had spoken so much in one shot. But then again, he was always more talkative with her than with anyone else. "But remember, we don't have the Byakuugan like you do. So don't push us too far, alright?"

"Promise," Neji spoke gently, disabling his bloodline limit to conserve chakra.

They kept on moving at an average pace, with Neji and Tenten up front of the three others who followed faithfully behind. Now that snow had taken over every branch, it was rather difficult to see where they were going. Many times did the five shinobi slip on an icy branch, or nearly tumbled as they stopped on one that was too small to support them. The snow would wrap itself around the branch, making it appear much stronger than it actually was.

The next challenge was the dropping temperature. Every second seemed to be colder than the previous one and soon, Tenten wasn't the only one trembling with cold.

As the Weapons Master raced through the trees, she began to formulate her demand in her head. She usually hated to ask her leader, whoever he may be, to take a break; but now it wasn't time to act prideful.

The air in her lungs were constricting as she gasped to take some in. Yet the air was so cold and filled with snow, and they were running so fast that she couldn't get a sufficient amount in. Suddenly, with her lungs screaming to be released from their pressure, she began to cough hardly.

Her feet stopped moving and she pummeled down from the branch, falling in a bank of snow. Frantic to bring her breaths back, she gasped deeply, only to swallow more snow and beginning to cough once more. Closing her eyes, she attempted to shield her face with trembling hands, but to no avail; there was snow everywhere, getting past her fingers no matter how tightly she binded them.

* * *

A/N: Hello dearest reviews and potential reviewers!

Hope you enjoyed this! I might be a while before writing another one, since my finals are coming up rapidly. I've been neglecting Physics for this fanfic and I have a foreboding feeling that screams I'll fail unless I study HARD. Considering I surely flunked my latest test… -Gulp-

Now, I don't want to hear anyone say, "What the heck... why did she randomly start coughing?" Anyone who has ever been in a snow tempest will know that when you take too much cold air in, sometimes it happens. Happened to me once... T.T It sucked.

Take care!


	9. Neji's Decision

Disclaimer: Wouldn't it be nice and we could all get along? Then there wouldn't be lawyers ready to pounce on me if I didn't disclaim…

Dedication: All to I.heart.Hatake.Kakashi for being such a good review and an amazing friend! Good luck on the semester, girl! 

* * *

**Chapter Nine: Neji's Decision **

_Her feet stopped moving and she pummeled down from the branch, falling in a bank of snow. Frantic to bring her breaths back, she gasped deeply, only to swallow more snow and beginning to cough once more. Closing her eyes, she attempted to shield her face with trembling hands, but to no avail; there was snow everywhere, getting past her fingers no matter how tightly she bonded them._

Panicking, Tenten felt tears taking over her eyes. Her throat constricted painfully as she swallowed dryly, still unable to fully let air pass through her chocked airways.

Vaguely, in the distance, she heard a garbled voice yell out her name, before rapidly screaming out for Neji. But the next few seconds were blank in her mind as she attempted to breathe.

The smallest of breath was able to make its way to her lungs as she drew in as much air as she could. Yet a sudden feeling of cold infiltrated itself inside of her and she burst into another coughing fit, the merciless wind hitting her face rhythmically.

Just as a pressure began to form in her brain, numbing her arms and legs in the process, she suddenly felt someone roughly grabbing her head. The next thing she knew, she was tightly wrapped in Neji's arms as he pressed her face lightly in his thick Hyuuga robes.

"Breathe in slowly, short breaths," he ordered, keeping his arms tight and comforting around her back. He was, in a way, keeping his distance from her, since his back was rigid and his head raised up high instead of dipped towards her when he usually held her. But she understood that it was only for show. His eyes held traces of worry in them as he looked down at her, the small hints only visible to the kunoichi.

Pressing her face closer into Neji's shirt, she breathed through the fabric as her fingers curled in a fist, grabbing some of his clothing in the process. She was still trembling, but eventually her coughing subsided and she was able to pull back slightly.

Cringing as the unforgiving wind hit her once more, she meekly peeked at Gai, Naruto, and Lee, who were looking down at her worriedly, before uttering a quick apology.

Gai flashed her a grin and a thumb-up. "It's fine, my flower of youth! As long as you're feeling better!"

"We're stopping for now," Neji declared, his Byakuugan activated. "There's a cavern about a hundred and twenty meters North from here, let's get going."

"Yes, Neji-kun!" Lee yelled before eagerly starting to run towards the mentioned direction. Gai and Naruto followed behind at a commanding glare from the Prodigy.

Once the two had vanished into the distance, he slowly helped Tenten stand up. Then, with a tender look at her, he brushed off the snow from her shoulders and back as she dusted off her pants.

"Thank you," she whispered softly, looking up at him once she was dusted off.

Neji simply pulled her back in a long embrace, shielding her once more from the striking spears of snow that fell from the heavens. He swallowed hard as he felt her tremble against him, knowing there was nothing he could do about it. "Let's go," he murmured gently, turning her around so they could walk together.

Little by little, the pair made their way to the cavern, where the three other shinobi were waiting for them. Lee had even managed to, strike of luck, come across a covered area, where dry wood was found. He was now in the process of lighting the fire, hurriedly working as he mumbled how he'd be upset if he couldn't light it before the youthful flower of their team arrived.

Tenten smiled, for the second they had entered the comforting cavern, Lee had managed to get small flames going. Slipping out of Neji's protective hold, she went over to Lee to place a hand on his back. Lighting leaning down, she murmured, "Thank you."

She got answered by a Nice Guy Pose.

She then looked up as Gai walked over to her, opening his pack. "Here," he said quietly, producing six covers from his pack. The soft wool had been wrapped around the weights that Gai carried for training, yet now proved themselves to be very useful in such weather. Tenten, Lee, and Naruto eagerly went to grab a cover and to roll it around their bodies thankfully.

As Tenten crawled towards the far corner of the cavern, she allowed her pale brown eyes to drift around so she could evaluate its grandeur. It was approximately eight feet high, by thirty feet long and fifteen feet wide. The opening was small, only about five feet wide, but they could easily fit through.

It was the perfect hiding spot for an afternoon like this. Neji had really gotten the best place.

Neji…

Turning her glance towards the Hyuuga, she noticed he hadn't picked up any blanket that Gai had taken out of his pack. He was leaning against the entrance of the cave, staring hardly outside, with a concentrated look upon his face.

Tenten frowned; she didn't like the way he was looking at the tempest. Simply to break him out of his reverie, she called out his name.

The Prodigy turned around, meeting Tenten's inquiring glance dead on. Then he swiped his look on the other three boys in the room before announcing quietly, "I'm going out."

"What?" came four different voices at the same time.

Neji turned his attention back to the raging snowfall, his eyes stern. "I have to help any Konoha shinobi that's out there. They risk dying unless they take serious cover and I doubt there's a better place than this one."

"But that's crazy!" Naruto shouted, waving his arms in the air to give his words emphasis. "Look outside, Neji! You'll never make it back here alive!"

"I have my Byakuugan," the Jounin answered, looking more and more determined with every passing second. "Snow doesn't hinder me."

"But what if you fall upon Sasuke and his followers?" Lee gasped, jumping to his feet as the words left his mouth. Then he grinned and gave a thumbs-up. "I'm following you, then, Neji-kun! Just to ensure your safety!"

Just as Neji was about to riposte, Tenten had given him a glare. The glare that we will qualify as being the "female" glare. Lee gulped and took a step back, just as Neji met Tenten's look once more. He remained unfazed for the first few seconds, but then Tenten spoke. "You. Are. Not. Leaving."

Neji, who was known for taking his own decisions all the time, held a small staring contest with his female teammate before finally shrugging. "Fine," he relented, before taking a place against a wall. Closing his eyes, he failed to notice the stunned expression on the three Chuunin's faces. Neji wasn't one to listen to others when they bossed him around, but being talked out of it so easily was definitely… weird.

"… Are you alright, Neji-kun?" Lee ventured, uneasily sitting back down.

"Hn," he answered simply, keeping his eyes shut. "We should all sleep. As soon as this tempest is over, we're leaving. Whether it's in the morning or evening; I don't care."

The three Chuunins, knowing they pissed off their Jounin leader, hurriedly unfurled their sleeping bags and snuggled down into them. The hurling wind, along with the thick smell of smoke from the small fire and the biting cold, were all factors that seemed to rob sleep away from them. Yet eventually, Naruto began snoring softly and Lee's breathing almost stilled.

Tenten had a bit more trouble finding sleep. Her chest still ached slightly from her coughing session earlier, but she cracked her eyes open and looked at Neji. Slowly, sleep began to fall upon her and she fell right into it, her last thought being, "I can't believe I made Neji change his mind with a simple look."

About fifteen minutes went by before something happened. Gai, who had been completely silent through the entire ordeal, finally spoke up. His voice was quiet, serious, and directed towards his former student. "You're leaving anyways, aren't you?"

"Yes," Neji confirmed, opening his eyes solemnly. He turned to look at Naruto, Tenten, and Lee before continuing his thoughts. "I knew that Naruto and Tenten would've talked me out of it, and there was no way I'd leave without having Lee follow me. Probably Tenten would've pushed herself just to follow me, also. Which is why I told them to sleep."

"They'll be angry when they'll wake up," Gai informed obviously, staring unwaveringly at his student.

Neji nodded as he stood. "I know, but this is my duty. Hinata-sama is out there; I can't leave her so. I have to do something about it; it's my obligation as a member of the Branch house to protect those of the Main."

Yet the older Beautiful Green Beast of Konoha stood up and walked over to him. Placing a hand on Neji's shoulder, he gently said, "But it won't do Hinata any good if you travel miles and miles and end up dying out there."

"We're at the edge of the forest," Neji informed him. "There's only about a hundred meters, which means they absolutely have to be South from us. I'll send anyone I find towards here. And anyways…" he hesitated the slightest before pursuing what he had to say, "My father would've done it."

Gai slowly nodded. "I understand…" Then, with a deep sigh, he pulled off the dark green cloak he was wearing over his regular clothing and handed it to the Hyuuga. "Here, take this. It may not quite match with your outfit, but it'll at least keep you warm a bit longer than with what you have."

Neji took the offered piece of clothing and pulled it on, shrugging the hood on his head. "Thank you, Gai. Will you keep everyone here?"

"Of course," the spandex-clad Jounin answered, giving Neji his Nice Guy pose. "If I fail to do that, then I will run after them myself and bring them back!"

Knowing that his friends were safe, Neji took a few steps in the blizzard. The strong winds immediately blew his cloak around, but he found out that it was quite an isolating tissue, and kept most of the cold outside. He was about to continue when Gai suddenly called out his name.

Turning around, he found the older man frantically searching through his backpack. Finally finding what he was searching for, he gave Neji a pinging grin as he pulled out a pair of identical microphones.

"Walky-talkies!" he exclaimed proudly, hurriedly showing Neji a pair. He opened up Neji's and glued his ear to the earpiece, saying "Hello!" into it. Glad that they still worked, he took one of himself and handed one to Neji's. "Now you can communicate with us anytime!"

Slightly impressed that Gai would actually think of that, Neji raised a curious eye towards his sensei. "How did you know you needed to bring something to communicate?"

Gai then sheepishly rubbed the back of his head as he said, "Well, I was supposed to give one to Kakashi! But since he shocked us all by showing up on time, I… uh… seem to have forgotten!"

Neji only shook his head as he secured the small microphone and earpiece onto himself. "Thank you," he said once more, double-checking the "on/off" switch. Since the tiny red light went on and off perfectly, he deemed it to be working properly.

Then, without another second wasted, the shinobi turned around to face the falling snow. Activating his Byakuugan, he began to race hurriedly South, hoping to find Hinata and to bring her back before Tenten would wake up and discover what he had done.

* * *

A/N: Well aren't you a lucky bunch! An update just for you!

Well we're having a snow day again today. So I get a long weekend, plus I get two more days to study for my physics test! Woot woot!

Hope you enjoyed the chapter and have a good weekend!

Take care!


	10. Tenten’s Fury

Disclaimer: Just like the million of people who believe in dreams. 

* * *

**Chapter Ten: Tenten's Fury **

To say that the wind was hard was quite an understatement. It struck the shinobi harshly on the face as he marched on ahead, realizing soon that the snow reached up to his kneecaps. Deciding that the old method of jumping from branch to branch might be useful here, Neji jumped up on the nearest one and began to rush through the area, Byakuugan constantly activated. 

Yet he soon figured it was a bad idea.

Now that he was higher up in the air, the snow was tumbling down on him at lightning speed. Also, many times he stepped on a branch, the entire tree shook and half of the snow would fall, many times slowing him down in the process.

As though it wasn't enough, small bits of hail had begun to fall, rendering tree branches slippery and troublesome to jump on.

Jumping down from the trees, Neji deactivated his Byakuugan. He had already used it for the major part of the day, and keeping it for later times might be an intelligent idea.

Soon, though, another challenge presented itself. Nighttime arrived quite rapidly, which forced him to turn his Bloodline Limit on and off quite often. Already getting irritated with the situation, Neji pushed a few of his chakra in his legs, going as fast as he could to cover more ground in less time.

----------

A cold gust of wind blew right into the cavern, sending a small drizzle of snow inside. It sprayed directly on Tenten, who was sitting closest to the entrance, instantly waking the girl.

Displeased at the method Mother Nature used to pull her out of her sleep, the kunoichi yawned tiredly as she sat up. Her next act was to uselessly brush the cold water from her face and covers, but groaned as she realized that the water had already infiltrated the fabric of her sleeping bag.

Annoyed, the Weapon Mistress sat up and pulled her long legs from the confining area of the sleeping bag, discarding it to the side. She then slowly got to her feet and walked to the opening of the cavern, peering outside to see the falling snow. The snowflakes were falling rapidly under her watchful eye, mixing in the darkness as they touched the ground. A quick look at her watch told her it was approaching two in the morning.

_'I slept nearly ten hours?'_ she mentally groaned to herself, annoyed that no one woke her up.

Yet the soft snores behind her told her that she wasn't the only one that had taken the time to rest. Smiling softly as her temporary anger faded, she turned around to study the sleeping faces of her three companions.

Three companions.

Three.

Five minus one being four. Yet five minus two was three.

**"Where the hell is Neji!?"**

The kunoichi's angry outburst instantly woke up the three shinobi, who had been sleeping soundly in their respective corners. Gai instantly winced and shot out of his sleeping bag, rapidly approaching the fuming kunoichi. Lee and Naruto obviously kept their distances as she glared angrily at the Jounin. She wasn't asking anyone; she was demanding to know. Neji had definitely influenced her into such an attitude.

"Where is he?" Tenten snapped again, her fingers twitching towards her weapon pouch.

Gai, whose hand had been resting on the small box in his pocket that would turn his walkie-talkie on and off, grinned wordlessly. Meanwhile, his finger gently prodded the off button, rendering the machine useless. If Tenten was to know that he was gone for quite a while, she'd probably give Neji the screaming of his life. "He surely went to get some wood, dearest youthful flower! You shouldn't get so angry!"

"Wood?" she hissed, pointing at the pile that Lee had already collected. "We have enough to last us a week!"

Gai was now squirming. Even though the kunoichi had well under ten years than him, and her height didn't even reach his nose, he suddenly found himself terrified that she would go on a rampage and butcher him if he didn't give her an explanation right now.

Thankfully, Lee came to the rescue of his sensei. Jumping up, he gave Tenten a Nice Guy pose and said, "You know, Tenten-chan, maybe he just noticed someone coming with his Byakuugan and went off to meet them! He'll surely be back in a few minutes; he can't be gone too far!"

"Yeah!" Naruto exclaimed, getting up to his feet too. "He can't just abandon us here; he's not that type of person!"

Tenten glared at the three, wondering if they knew something that she didn't. Yet their explanations made sense. Sighing, she relented and slouched back to her position, keeping her eyes glued to the door.

"If he isn't back in fifteen minutes, I'm going after him," she declared in a monotonous tone before clamping her mouth shut.

Lee and Naruto gulped fearfully as Gai gently touched the microphone in his pocket. Slowly, driven only by his worry for his wayward student, he gently turned it on.

----------

_'Damn it,'_ Neji thought angrily as he raised an arm to cover his eyes. With Byakuugan, he could walk as far as he wanted with his eyes shut. Yet when they were opened without his bloodline, it wasn't easy to plow through the incessant shower of snow. Swallowing hardly, he took a small break behind a rather larger tree, momentarily free to rest.

Realizing that he had been running for a long time now, he decided to give his companions news. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the small black box and turned the switch on. The comforting red light appeared, signaling that it was ready to use. Pulling the microphone away from his collar, where it had been previously placed so it wouldn't have touched water, he gently pushed the "transmit" button before speaking softly in the mouthpiece.

"Gai-sensei?"

----------

_'Come on… come on now…'_ Gai silently pleaded as he stared shamelessly at Tenten.

The kunoichi had, out of cold, slid back into her sleeping bag. Lee had crawled over to Gai to have a talk while Naruto had fallen back to sleep.

"—because you know, there's nothing that I could've done, Gai-sensei! But of course, I'll work stronger than ever to beat Sasuke next time I see him, I will never fail you again, as you surely know already! Plus I will—"

"Lee!" Gai suddenly hissed, turning his eyes to his look-alike. "Be quiet!"

The young Green Beast nodded rapidly, shutting up instantly as Gai returned to looking at Tenten. A smirk lit up his face as she seemed to doze off, her head limply falling to the side.

_'Yes!'_ Gai instantly cheered in his mind, _'Now, if only she can stay asleep until Neji comes back! At least there won't be any more questions!' _

"Stay quiet, Lee!" Gai murmured gently at his upset-looking student. "Let Tenten sleep." 

The younger man grinned and gave a thumbs-up. He was about to crawl back to his own sleeping bag when a sudden voice filled the cavern, seemingly coming from… Gai?

"Gai-sensei?"

The earpiece, which Gai had cranked up to its maximum so that he wouldn't have to wear it in order to hear, went silent after that word. Lee instantly stared at Gai, who made a face before pulling out the small microphone and earpiece out of his pocket, along with the small box.

Leaning closer to the mouthpiece, he softly said, "Yes, Neji?"

"How's everything?" was the Jounin's answer.

"It's fine," Gai said hurriedly as he noticed Tenten shifting in her sleep. He reached over to lower the volume of the earpiece, but Neji was too quick for him.

"I haven't come across a single soul yet," he informed glumly. "I'll keep on going for a while."

_'Shit!'_ Gai instantly thought as Tenten's eyes opened. Giving up, he placed the walkie-talkie on the floor and looked pleadingly at the kunoichi as she fully gained control of her senses. As she set her honey-colored eyes on him, he did the only thing he could think of: he grinned and waved.

Neji was always the kind of guy he had pushed to talk. Gai had spent months and months telling him to speak out, to express himself. Now, at that moment, the bowl-haired man wished that he would _just shut up_.

"Gai-sensei? Did you hear me?" the earpiece crackled.

"Neji?" Tenten suddenly screeched, jumping to her feet. "What the hell!?"

Rushing over to the mouthpiece, she jerked it away from Gai before literally yelling in the poor transmitter. "Where the heck are you, Hyuuga?"

A significant pose followed her question before Neji answered, "Easy, Tenten. I'm gone to find Hinata-sama, didn't Gai-sensei tell you?"

Shooting daggers at her panicked-looking sensei, she answered in an icy and threatening voice, "No, he failed to mention that he knew where you had disappeared to."

"Tenten," Neji's voice held a note of warning. "Do not follow me. I swear that if I come back and you're not there…" He allowed his sentence to drift on its own.

Glaring at the mouthpiece, Tenten mumbled to herself, "Bring it on, Hyuuga!" before pressing the transmit button. "Fine, I'll stay here. Even though I have to say you're a real loser for not telling us where you were going!"

Gai cringed slightly, since Tenten had been glaring directly at him when she had spoken her last words. He wasn't too sure if the insult had been directed to Neji or to him.

The shinobi was silent at the other end of the liner before speaking once more, "Done yelling?"

The kunoichi didn't even answer; she only threw the small microphone at Gai and stalked back to her corner. The green-clad shinobi took the instrument and said slowly, "I think she is, Neji. Do you—"

"There's someone in the scope of my Byakuugan, I have to get moving." The line went dead after that and the small buzzing sound that indicated Neji had his walkie-talkie open got shut off.

* * *

A/N: Short chapter, but with the exams coming up so rapidly (I have one tomorrow in Spanish! Eek!) I have no choice unless you want to wait another week. XD

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who reviews. I don't always answer the reviews, but I read all of them and they're so appreciated. So thank you once more!

Take care!


	11. Sending People to Safety

Disclaimer: Seriously, I think that the disclaimer is the most interesting part of the chapter…   


* * *

**Chapter Eleven: Sending People to Safety**

Neji's feet hit the ground rhythmically, making next to no noise as he raced, Byakuugan fully activated. He wasn't sure exactly why he was running so fast; he could clearly see from the person's chakra that it wasn't Hinata. He would've recognized it intensely, had it been his fragile cousin trudging through the incessant snow. 

Maybe it was because of Tenten's hard words. Her angry tone when she had lashed out at him over the walkie-talkies. Maybe it was to prove her that she was wrong; that he was doing something useful right now. Because he knew that she wasn't upset over the fact that he was trying to find Hinata; she was upset because he didn't trust her with the information.

As the female's form drew closer and closer, Neji forced his feet to slow down. Yet the female saw him first and halted proudly, waiting for the prodigy to catch up.

Stopping in front of the blonde, Neji gave a light bow of greeting at the Kazekage's sister. He knew that she was supposed to be with Shikamaru's team, but decided against asking her about it. Politeness had always been forced upon him for the first years of his life.

"Yes, Hyuuga?" Temari questioned, seeing as though he wouldn't be addressing her first.

Neji looked at her unblinkingly. "There's a cavern, a few kilometers North from here. My teammates are there, and I suggest you to head in that direction as well." Then, in an afterthought, he finished his sentence with, "Unless you want to stay out here."

The kunoichi seemed to consider his offer, almost looking suspicious. Eventually, she shrugged and said a quick thank you. Both separated, and Neji was about to go on his own way when the Suna woman suddenly called out his name.

Turning around, an act that shielded him momentarily from the winds, he looked at her as she fidgeted slightly.

"Shikamaru's team is still out there," she admitted. "Though I don't know if they're together, or if the winds split them up. We were all traveling rather far from each other and we were separated."

Almost feeling the pleading undertone of the woman in front of him, he gave her a reassuring nod. "I'll find them."

Unsure whether or not her demand had been for a certain lazy shinobi or for the sake of worry, Neji swiftly made his way South once more. The wind was roaring so hard now that his ears were beginning to ring, which only made him use his eyes more. Right now, he was focusing on two people a few meters away, which weren't moving. Things were definitely starting to look up; probably he'd find Hinata-sama within the hour such a pace would keep up.

As he ran, he decided once more to give some news to his teammates. After all, if Temari was to show up randomly at the cavern, he was half-way worried of what Gai and Lee might do.

Pressing on the small button, he gently said in the microphone, "Gai-sensei, I've found someone."

His sensei's voice soon came rapidly to him. "Awesome, Neji! I'm proud of you, as you already know! But please tell me, who did you find?"

"Sabaku no Temari," he answered. "I've sent her over to the cavern and I'm now seeing two other people."

"Awesome!" came Lee's voice in the background. He then obviously approached the microphone since his voice became louder by the second. "But how are you doing, my youthful rival?"

"I'm fine," he answered gruffly before turning the walkie-talkie off and beginning to sprint. Truth was- he wasn't that "fine". His fingers were aching slightly and his toes were beginning to freeze painfully. Hyuuga Neji was cold. And he hated it. He hated it because it slowed him down, it forced his hands to stay glued inside of his pockets, and it made him shiver occasionally. He despised weakness, yet the temperature seemed to be rightfully taunting him, taking its sweet time to engulf his body in cold.

"Neji!"

Halting, he immediately went over to Ino, who was frantically running towards him with her arms waving in the air. Halting rapidly, the thin kunoichi gasped to gather her breath and pointed in the distance. "There was a huge wind draft and we got knocked off the branch before we collided with each other! Sakura hit her head against the tree by my fault and she's unconscious and I—"

"Ino." He said her name commandingly, seriously, which made her halt like a rebuked child. "Calm down. Where is she?"

"Over there! With Kakashi-sensei!" she whined, still pointing away.

Nodding, Neji kept his Bloodline Limit activated and had walked right in front of Ino, soon followed by the blonde woman. Guided by Neji's Byakuugan, they easily found the duo under a low-branched tree.

Thankfully, Sakura wasn't seriously injured. Probably she had only hit her head on a branch and had fallen unconscious, just like Ino had rambled about. Therefore, Neji only mentioned the direction to the cavern and was about to take off, when Kakashi took hold of his arm. He waited until Ino had taken Sakura, her eternal rival, onto her back and had taken off before turning his attention to the younger shinobi.

"Are you sure you can go on, Neji?" he asked in his usual, carefree voice. "You do look a little bit tired."

"I have to find Hinata-sama," he answered quickly, carelessly. "I don't care what I have to do."

Kakashi eyed him, out of his lone uncovered eye, for a long time before sighing. "Alright, then. But promise me one thing, Neji."

"Hn."

"Come back if you don't feel well. If your chakra drains too low to fight, since we both know Sasuke is still around, come right back. It's not worth getting you killed," Kakashi replied.

"Hn," Neji muttered again without commitment. He then burst into another race, leaving the older Jounin behind.

----------

"Are you sure you're alright, Temari-san?"

"Yes!" the blonde woman snapped, turning fiery aquamarine eyes to glare at Gai. The man gulped audibly and retreated to the other end of the cave, shooting worried glances at the annoyed kunoichi.

The blonde woman huffed indignantly and crossed her arms over her chest, closing her eyes in aggravation. Ever since she'd arrived about a half-hour ago, those two obnoxious, spandex-wearing, bowl-haired maniacs have been harassing her like crazy, demanding her every single question they could probably think of on two subjects: her condition and Neji's.

Sure, she had arrived soaked and miserable, and the blond shinobi that seemed to be somehow "friends" with her younger brother had greeted her warmly. The girl, whom she remembered fighting in her first Chuunin preliminaries, had appeared angry for some reason, though it wasn't important to the Jounin female. So why did those two others have to practically give her a questionnaire that would've put Suna's interrogation squad to shame?

_'Why the hell have I roped myself into this?'_ her mind shouted at her, though another nagging thought soon made itself known. _'You were upset that you got separated from Shika-kun and you knew that he'd probably show up here!' _

Shaking her head from the thought, she was seriously considering sleep when someone suddenly entered rapidly, screaming, "Help me! Sakura's unconscious!" 

Temari briefly heard Tenten utter a groaning, "Oh no…" before the inevitable came. The bun-haired girl then actually blocked her ears as a traumatized-looking Lee jumped to his feet.

_**"Sakura-chan!"**_

Rushing forward, Lee grasped the unconscious woman from Ino's arms, before the latter half-crumbled to the ground in exhaustion. He then carefully went to lie her down on the ground before taking off her soaked coat and placing his own cover around her body. Soft murmurs of, "this will bring you your youth back, Sakura…" drifted away from the green-clad shinobi. 

Naruto also jumped to his feet and rushed to his teammate, kneeling besides her as he called out her name desperately. Meanwhile, as Gai began to ramble on how Lee and Naruto's youth were at their peaks, Tenten snickered lightly.

The Suna resident shot the Weapon's Mistress an uninteresting glance, reading the lips of the girl as she mouthed, 'Wow, and that's our medic-nin.'

Kakashi made his arrival soon after, to which Gai gave a thumbs up and a pinging grin. But Kakashi wasted no time.

"Gai!" he said seriously, grabbing his rival's arm. "I'm glad to see you; I—"

"Well, my eternal rival, I'm very glad to see you too!" Gai broke through his sentence rudely. "Though I've arrived here first, so I declare myself a winner of—"

"This is not the time!" Kakashi warned. The commotion behind him seemed to silence itself as people turned their heads to watch the silver-haired Jounin. "Do you have any way to contact Neji?"

Gai grinned at such a trivial question. "Of course, Kakashi-kun! I've kept my walkie-talkie open ever since—"

"Call him back!"

Silence ensued and the only movement in the room was Tenten, who shifted to have a better view of the newest arrival.

"He's tired; I could see it in his face. The conditions outside are getting worse every hour, I'm worried he won't make it back. I know he has the Byakuugan, but it eats up chakra; soon he won't have any to fight, much less to come back home!"

But Gai, unsure whether or not he should bother his student during such a stressing trip, hesitated to do what Kakashi had said. Tenten, on the other hand, absolutely didn't have a problem with obeying the silver-haired shinobi.

Jumping to her feet, she walked over to where the small device had been left. Grabbing it, she brought the microphone to her lips and called his name. "Neji!"

Lee had turned from his sleeping beauty in order to look at Tenten. A small frown, as unusual it may seem for Lee, had infiltrated his features. He questioningly whispered the girl's name as she looked intently at the machine, breathing hard. Yet he didn't dare approach her, he only waited for the turn of events.

Tenten, on her side, was absolutely frantic, even though she didn't show it. She forced her hands to stop trembling as Neji's quiet answer drifted in the small machine. "Yes?"

"Come back, you've been out for too long," the girl answered worriedly, her eyes half-lidded. "Being your sparring partner, I know what you're capable of, Neji. This will be too much; an entire day plus an entire night of Byakuugan usage!"

"I haven't found Hinata-sama, yet," was his reply.

Her nerves shot, Tenten closed her eyes fully and clutched at the microphone. "Please come back..." she whispered softly, then waited patiently for his answer. Her heart was racing and a knot was forming itself in her throat as the wind blew hard on the cavern, definitely not immune to sound.

"No."

Her worry for him immediately turned to anger as she grabbed the walkie-talkie and, in a sudden rage, sent it hurling against the wall. It struck with a sharp noise, then fell on the ground uselessly as the kunoichi went back to her place on the other end of the cave. By then, everyone was looking either at the device, at each other, or at the floor; anywhere but the kunoichi. Everyone but Gai, who was looking at his student carefully. He was the only one who noticed the sharp tears that glistened in her eyes before she closed them, angrily curling her body in a tight little ball.

* * *

A/N: Ah, and what the heck. I'm leaving it here.

There's roughly 1900 words in this chapter. I personally think the first 1500 are horrible. T.T It was rushed, I know… I just have to get people back in the cavern before I can move on.

Thankfully, I think Tenten's little outburst was worth the long writing. Don't worry, it will have effects on Neji- he loves her, remember?

Tenten's starting to crack…

Actually, if I don't get reviews for this chapter, I wouldn't be surprised. x.x it was horrible…  
Take care!


	12. Lies

Disclaimer: Why the heck would I say Naruto belongs to me! Lying is a sin. Yes, I do know that my chapter is named "Lies", but that's beside the point.

Dedication: To everybody who has put this on Alert, Favorites, and especially for those who review!  


* * *

**  
Chapter Twelve: Lies **

Hours had passed, turning nighttime into daytime. Sadly, though, the blizzard seemed to have taken sunlight as a challenge, for it doubled in intensity. The winds were choking, the cold piercing, and the snowfall resembled a blanket. 

Safely in the cabin, the eight shinobi were all preoccupied with their own selves. Naruto was starting to complain about lack of food - especially hot, steaming, delicious ramen. Lee was sleeping, claiming that he needed energy in case something "unyouthful" would happen to Neji and he'd have to go save him. Sakura had gained back consciousness and was now also sleeping. Kakashi had whipped out Icha Icha Paradise and was reading in a corner. Gai tended to the fire and sat silently close to the walkie-talkie, who thankfully hadn't broken, waiting for Neji to transmit more news. Temari was sitting close to the opening, occasionally looking outside before going to sit back down restlessly. Tenten was staring unblinkingly at the floor, the only indication of her living being the fact that she was breathing.

But inside, her heart was in turmoil.

She couldn't sleep anymore. Dreams taunted her heavily, nightmares about her secretive lover dying out there alone. Though she knew that even if she'd call him back, he wouldn't do it. She had to think of something to force him to come bac, no matter what…

-------------

Neji fell heavily against a tree, having lost his footing through the massive amount of snow. Even through his meticulous usage of the Byakuugan had kept his chakra from draining too slowly; he realized that it wasn't doing him any good now. He barely had enough to last him half a day.

Only minutes ago, he had found Shikamaru and Chouji crouching under a fallen pine tree and had sent them off towards the cavern. Swearing under his breath, he forced himself to continue forward.

_'Of course, I just have to find everyone except for Hinata-sama!'_ he growled mentally, before his earpiece buzzed.

"Neji?"

It was Tenten again. Why the hell wouldn't she stop bothering him?

"What is it now, Tenten?" he asked, thoroughly annoyed by now. Sure, he hadn't heard anything about her in quite a few hours, but like the last two times, she'd ask for him to come back. What was so difficult in the word, "No"?

"Neji you need to come back here."

Alright, so he had been wrong. She hadn't asked him to come back; she had ordered him to. He chose not to answer, but Tenten's next words made him halt.

"Hinata just showed up with Kiba. They don't really know how they've missed your Byakuugan, but they did! So you see, she's safe, so come back!"

Neji slumped against a tree once more, his haggard breath making it difficult for him to speak. "That's impossible…"

"Well it obviously isn't, Neji! Now come back!"

Closing his eyes momentarily, Neji swallowed hard before replying, "You're lying to me, Tenten. I can hear it in the tone of your voice. You're only using this as an excuse to bring me back to the cave."

There was a short pause on her side before her pained voice reached him. "Do you really think I'd lie to you about this, Neji? I just don't want you to stay out there on your own, searching for someone who's perfectly safe!"

Still unsure whether or not this was just a prank, he finally asked, "May I speak to her then?"

"She's sleeping!" Tenten whined. "She was half-conscious when she arrived, dragged by Kiba. She used her Byakuugan to find us, and as soon as they both arrived, they promptly fell asleep. Please trust me, Neji!"

Neji attempted to clear his muddled mind to he could think, but the desperate act proved itself to be harder than he thought. Guessing that it could, somehow, have been possible for them to escape the range of his Byakuugan, he finally said, "Fine. I should be there in about an hour or two."

The reassurance in her voice was obvious. "Thank you, Neji! I'll be waiting for you."

The connection was cut and Neji activated his Byakuugan. Even though it could go to two hundred meters, he kept the range within a hundred, then spotted someone moving towards him rapidly. Assuming it was someone from Konoha, he stayed leaning against the trunk and waited.

Soon, Kurenai's figure outlined itself against the wall of snow, and she halted when she saw Neji. Instantly, she approached him slowly, her face filled with worry. "Neji? Are you—"

"Yes, I'm fine," he snapped as an answer. He was getting fed up of being asked the same question over and over.

"I've lost my students," she groaned, shaking her head. Her wet hair hung heavily against her head, the tips frozen in small tendrils of ice and her clothing didn't seem to be in any better shape. It matched, in fact, Neji's own conditions.

"Hinata and Kiba are at the cave," he said gently after explaining his discovery. "They'll surely wait for you there."

But Kurenai didn't leave right away. Her red eyes stared unblinkingly at Neji, before she slowly shook her head. "It's impossible, Neji. We were going North when I lost them about fifteen minutes ago. I figured that I was ahead from them, so I turned around, and this is how I met you. It would be inhuman to cross such a distance in less than a quarter of an hour."

Neji closed his eyes tiredly, his head aching. Tenten had lied right to his face to bring him back. Hinata wasn't with them. Snapping his eyes back open, he looked long and hard at the Jounin in front of him before making his decision.

Slowly, he took out the small alimentation box from his pocket, then pulled off the microphone and the earpiece that completed the walkie-talkie. Raising it to meet his eyes, he gently pressed the "off" switch, rendering the machine silent from its buzzing. He then placed them in Kurenai's hands before sighing.

"Bring it back with you. Keep it closed at all times, don't even turn it on," he ordered, his voice monotonous. "Take it or I'll throw it away, it only slows me down."

Kurenai nodded, unsure of what she should make about this weird act from the Hyuuga. But she took the machine and placed it carefully in her pocket, then bid her student's cousin goodbye.

As Neji watched her leave, along with his only source of communication to the woman he loved, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of regret. But it soon faded as he turned around and began to walk again. From now on, there wouldn't be anything to hinder him. If Tenten wanted to play dirty; so could he.

---------

"You're awake!" Ino shouted gleefully, clapping her hands together as Sakura groggily sat up. The pink-haired medic shot a look at the blonde, half confused with why she was so happy. But she took the offered hug gladly, knowing only one thing: it was damn cold.

Now the shinobi, despite being in the presence of fire, were starting to get cold. Hunger, mixed with the winds and the temperature, were a nasty blend that made them shiver.

"Hey!" Naruto suddenly shouted from his spot at the cave entrance. "I see someone coming!"

Tenten hurriedly jumped to her feet, a smile etching itself on her face. Neji had fallen for it; he was coming back. Thank goodness!

Sure, she did feel a little bit bad about lying so blankly to him, but it was for his own good. After all, Hinata did have Byakuugan herself; she could easily find the spot on her own.

"Shikamaru!" Naruto yelled loudly, waving frantically from his spot. "Chouji! Shikamaru! Come on over!"

"Shikamaru?" Temari instantly snapped an aquamarine eye open and trained it upon the opening. She didn't move from her spot, only waiting patiently for him to show up.

Dissapointed, Tenten slumped back to the floor, pouting slightly as the two shinobi entered. They were instantly whisked close to the fire, but the should-be Jounin shook his head to decline the invitation. Instead, he slowly marched to the Suna kunoichi and sat down besides her, leaning casually against the rock.

"About time you showed up, lazy ass," she commented with a raise of her well-groomed eyebrow. "Thought you'd die out there."

"Worried?" he countered with a light smirk once she tensed up visibly. He then reached over and took her hand, which made her whip her head around to face him.

"What the hell are—"

"I'm cold," the lazy genius then sighed. "This is so troublesome."

The kunoichi seemed to soften a bit, which Shikamaru instantly took for an opening. Shifting his body, he gently rested the back of his head on her thighs and stretched his entire body on the ground, then closed his eyes and sighed deeply. "Really troublesome."

Chouji, who was shuddering close to the fire, turned to face his best friend and laughed. "Sure looks like you're suffering, Shikamaru!"

"Yeah!" Naruto grinned eagerly. "Dattabeyo!"

"I'm cold too," Sakura muttered beneath Lee's cover. "We're all going to die here if this doesn't stop!"

"Don't worry my youthful flower!" Lee exclaimed, immediately going to sit by her side. "I can hold you in my arms and we can share our fire of youth!"

While Tenten twitched unsurely at the true meaning behind that sentence, Sakura eyed Lee warily. Finally, driven mostly by her desire to be warm, she reluctantly allowed Lee to place his arms around her.

"Aww, isn't that too cute!"

Sakura cringed lightly, then shot a glare at a snickering Naruto. "Shut up!"

Minutes passed, the fire crackled. Gai got up to place another log in, yet when he looked at their supply of wood, his heard sunk lightly. There was only about ten left, not nearly enough to keep them warm for the day. This wasn't good.

Just as he was considering going out to get some in order to make it dry enough to burn, Kurenai entered slowly, her head low.

Everyone greeted her, but her eyes rested on Gai and Kakashi helplessly. Reaching into her pocket, she slowly pulled out Neji's walkie-talkie and handed it to the bowl-haired Jounin. Her face was a complete blank before it fell in an expression of regret.

Gai took it reverently, his heart sinking. Everyone in the cavern had now their eyes trained on the device, before they looked inquiringly at the red-eyed woman.

"Neji said it was a hindrance," she whispered softly. "I shouldn't have taken it… but then he said that he'd throw it away."

The only sound that followed was the soft sobs coming from the end of the cavern. Tenten had pressed her face in her hands and was crying bitterly, knowing that it was her own fault that Neji had cut contact with them. Now he was truly alone.

* * *

A/N: Hi!

I liked this chapter better. Ending a bit rushed again, though I'm running out of time and won't be able to touch this document until Monday.

Just wanted to say thanks to my reviewers. Really, I may not reply to every single review, but I read them all! I treasure them greatly, so keep doing the good job!

Take care!


	13. Encounter with Trouble

Disclaimer: I do not make cash out of this fic.

Dedication: To Snowqueen184, because it's been a while I haven't dedicated anything to her.   


* * *

**Chapter Thirteen: Encounter with Trouble **

The tension in the cavern had boosted drastically over the last half hour. Now everyone was rather quiet, all waiting for Gai and Kakashi to return. They had promised not to venture too far, only to get a few logs that they'd attempt to dry, since there were only about four remaining. One walkie-talkie rested opened close to the fireplace, while the other was with the two shinobi. 

Sakura and Naruto were whispering to each other; though their voices were so low that it was impossible to listen to them speak. It was unnatural for the blond shinobi to react like so, but these were also unnatural circumstances. The other shinobi were quiet, except for the younger Green Beast.

"But Tenten, I promise you he'll be fine!" Lee unsuccessfully attempted to console the obviously heartbroken kunoichi. "This is Neji we're talking about, here! Don't despair so easily, oh beautiful flower of youth!"

Tenten had rapidly gotten control of her tears and now sat alone, her face buried into her arms. Even though they had all pretty much attempted to get her to talk, she refused to look at any of them. Lee was the only one she hadn't minded approaching to rant. Even though his words felt useless, they were somewhat consoling.

She knew that she was causing a scene, in a way. This wasn't how her great Idol, Tsunade-sama, would react in such a situation. This wasn't how Neji would want her to react. But she couldn't help it. There was just a part of her mind that shouted that there was something wrong, at the moment, with the man that she loved. That he was in trouble somehow.

And not just from the elements.

----------  


Chilled to the bone was now an understatement. Neji had to constantly move his fingers inside his pockets to keep them from freezing. His body was now constantly shivering and his breathing was shallow. The Byakuugan was getting harder and harder to keep opened, for some unknown reason. His chakra levels were not low enough for him to be unable to use his bloodline limit, so why did he have problems keeping them opened? 

He was so focused on keeping his Byakuugan activated that he wasn't even aware he was being followed, the person being careful to remain in the Hyuuga's blind spot. He had been trailing the stumbling Konoha shinobi for a while now, sensing his fatigue and his lack of rest. What better time to attack when your enemy was hungry, dehydrated, tired, and emptied out of his chakra?

A devilish smirk was displayed upon his face as his enemy began to descend a hill carefully, sensing it was finally time to act. He stealthily approached him and before he was too low in the small valley, acted. Rapidly, the newcomer sent a strong kick directly in Neji's back, which threw the prodigy to the ground. Instantly pulled by gravity, he tumbled a few meters before hitting a tree bark, which stopped his fall in a second.

Neji instantly raised his eyes to his attacker before slowly getting up to his knees. Snow didn't even cling to him, since his clothing and hair were utterly drenched. His skin and lips were pale, even paler than their usual hue. Eventually, his lavender orbs fell upon the one person he hadn't wanted to see.

Sasuke stood on top of the hill, smirking condescendingly at him.

The two men stared at each other for a long time, before Neji slowly got to his feet. His hand reached for his weapon pouch as he kept his eyes riveted on the missing-nin, his body alert while the other male carelessly leaned against a tree. He somehow seemed to be immune to the hard snow around them, his Sharingan brightly activated as he waited for Neji to make a move.

Still and silent as the grave, Neji brought his trembling hand against the snap. It took him a few tries before successfully getting a weapon out, which made Sasuke snicker. He held the kunai deeply, his mind strangely blank. Usually, it was often riddled with thoughts and strategies on how to defeat his enemy, but now… nothing. He couldn't get a coherent thought through his muddled mind.

"What are you doing, Hyuuga?" Sasuke downright laughed menacingly. "You should take a good look at yourself."

Neji remained stoic, his kunai knife trembling along with his hand.

Sasuke chose to continue taunting him. "You're slowly developing hypothermia in these conditions and you know it. I'm certain your fingers and feet will soon fall victim to frostbite, if it's not already done. Shouldn't you be running back towards your little cave, where all your little friends reside?" He nonchalantly pulled himself away from the tree. "Where your little girlfriend resides?"

A snarl made its way into Neji's face before the prodigy could stop it from surfacing. He raised the kunai, about to throw it and impale the Sharingan-user, when…

Twang.

It was knocked right out of his hands. Sasuke had simply reached in his pocket, pulled out a kunai of his own, had taken two seconds to aim, and had thrown it. It had hit Neji's steel weapon perfectly, sending it spiraling out of his hands, before he had even realized Sasuke had moved.

"Plus," the snake-nin smirked victoriously, "your coordination, speed, and awareness are all shot through the ground. You're a useless shinobi, Hyuuga."

Neji frowned lightly, looking at his hand with his eyes narrowed. Byakuugan or not, he still hadn't seen Sasuke move. Yet his fierce attitude didn't allow him to give up; he simply raised his hands and placed himself in his Jyuuken state, readying himself physically for combat.

Sasuke only shook his head, as if it was a child in front of him rather than a full-grown shinobi. "You're much too weak. You know it's dangerous to battle when your hands are frozen. Haven't they taught you that back at the academy?"

"Don't expect me to back away," Neji warned, his speech slow and calculated. His eyes now were activated, though the chakra was leaving him rapidly now.

Sasuke laughed again. "You can't even speak properly!" Then, he unsheathed his silver katana and held it out for him to see. "Now let's see a real shinobi in action!"

Next thing Neji knew, Sasuke was besides him, and had slashed a long gap upon his extended arm, slicing only the fabric and not the skin. The Leaf shinobi grunted in annoyance and jumped away, since the younger man was obviously toying with him in order to get on his nerves.

As much as Neji hated to admit it- it worked.

"Want to beg for your life?" Sasuke mocked, twirling the blade around.

Gasping for breath as his bloodline limit deactivated itself, Neji gave him a hard glare. Even though he knew he didn't have enough chakra for the attack, he began whispering slowly, "Eight Trigrams: sixty—"

A punch to his stomach made him double over, coughing hardly as he fell to his knees. Raising his head uselessly, he vaguely noticed Sasuke making hand seals, concentration displayed against his face. But he never had chance to finish them, since a chakra-filled hand struck his chest once, a well-placed strike that froze an important point. Sasuke stumbled backward, but the hand suddenly struck him at many places, making him fall backwards into the snow.

But all this wasn't Neji's doing.

He had only felt the amount of chakra approaching him from behind, then had pulled away to allow the person to take over for him. Then he had watched as the dark-cloaked boy tumbled down, beaten by someone he hadn't felt coming. After all, he had focused solely on Neji the entire time, obviously enjoying ridiculing such a strong rival.

"Neji-niisan! Are you alright?!"

Hinata's worried face faded into his line of vision as he blinked against the raging amount of snowflakes. He attempted to speak, but his voice only came out as a whisper. "Hinata-sama?"

She jumped out of his view, suddenly yelling. It was the first time in his life that he heard Hinata really scream as she called out for her two teammates. Soon, though it felt more like a buzz than anything else, he felt himself getting helped up slowly and Hinata rambling something like, "We'll get you out of the cold!"

"No," he whispered, even though his tongue felt bigger than usual. "There's a cavern... South from here… Tenten…" Those were his last words before the white world turned black and his body slumped fully in the hold of Kiba and Shino.

* * *

A/N: You know, I adore cliffhangers. So even though this chapter is short, I'll end it there. Just because I might not have any chance of writing anything else for a while. This semester is harder than I thought it would be…

Well, I hope you enjoyed the intensity I attempted to write. But being half-drugged on chocolate milk and whipped cream, plus attempting to write a gloomy atmosphere… this is what you get. Hope you liked!

Take care!


	14. Ice

Disclaimer: I do not make money out of this fic either. Though "cash" is slang for "money"… hm… But since I don't make cash OR money, then I'm not making anything at all… sigh.

A/N: So this is my last chapter of this story… I was seriously planning to make it at least three more chapters longer, but… I don't know. This chapter had closure, and I found out it was a great way to end it.

Eve, there's a line in there for you! XD Attempt to find it! Hehe!

Hope you all enjoyed! Thanks to my faithful reviewers, you all ruled my world. I topped a hundred reviews, and though it's nothing to a lot of people, I'm very proud!

Take care!

* * *

**Chapter Fourteen: Ice**

When Neji gained back conscience, he was aware of three things: He was drained from chakra, he was still in pain and soaking wet, and he had four people staring at him.

Blinking slowly, he vaguely noticed they were in a tiny cavern, much less cozy than the one he'd found. Shino was leaning against a wall carelessly, his hands stuffed in his pockets. Kiba and Akamaru were sitting beside Shino, eyeing Neji carefully. Hinata, meanwhile, was sitting directly besides him and was holding his hand, a worried look displayed on her pretty face.

"Neji-niisan…" she whispered softly, reaching over to touch her cousin's cheek. "Are you alright?"

"Yes," Neji whispered through a parched throat. Slowly, he sat up from his lying down position and closed his eyes as a massive headache suddenly struck him. "What time is it?"

"Who knows?" Kiba snickered obviously. "Our watches are frozen."

"You've been unconscious for less than an hour," Shino spoke up, ignoring Kiba's laughter.

But before Neji could ask further questions, Kiba took up the inquiry. "What were you doing out there, anyways? Searching for Hinata?"

Neji merely nodded as an answer, which made Kiba laugh harder. "That sure beats the old saying, 'guy chases girl until girl catches him'!"

Hinata chose to ignore the playful banter as her eyes remained transfixed on the prodigy before asking him, "Can you walk, cousin?"

Neji slowly got to his feet despite stumbling and leaned against the rock wall of the cave. His weakened body begged for sleep, craved food and water, and despite all his attempts to push it away, desired to see the woman he loved. Even though he had always pushed Tenten away from his mind in order not to miss her, now he allowed the weight of knowing she was far from him to crush his mind. His words only tumbling out by sheer longing, he murmured, "I can walk. Let's leave right away; I know a place where we can go."

----------

Willing herself to ignore the fact that Temari was now sleeping in Shikamaru's arms, and so was Sakura in Lee's, Tenten balled up her fists in anger. Anger and sadness. That nagging feeling that Neji needed her was overwhelming her, taunting sleep away.

Slowly, she got to her feet and made her way towards the entrance of the cave. She leaned against it slowly, shivering as the cold wind hit her and misted her with melted snow. Her eyes were dull as she looked out in the white portray in front of her. It was such a beautiful scenery. One that she'd enjoy watching, if she was sitting close to her window at home, in her small apartment.

Slowly, she turned around to look at the people. Everyone had dozed off or –in Kakashi's case- were reading. Turning back towards the opening, she took a few steps outside the cavern, instantly being hit by the choking winds. Then she took another few steps, but someone called her name.

Sighing, she painfully made her way back inside, angling her head so she wouldn't meet Gai's look of disapproval. This was the third time she'd attempted to tiptoe out of their hideout; it was the third time he called her back inside. She wouldn't even attempt to outrun him, since it was proven over and over again that he was the fastest runner of Konoha.

Reluctantly, she lifted her eyes to meet Gai's, only to find the man's face troubled. She knew that, unlike her, he wasn't just worried for one person. He was worried for two; Neji and herself. Worried that he'd die, and worried about what she'd do if this be the case.

Minutes passed, though no one stirred from their position. The fire was beginning to dim, since the logs were too wet to burn. The smell of smoke was thick in the air, though every shinobi had long gone accustomed to it.

A single, distant outcry made the kunoichi snap her eyes open. The fact that Gai and Kakashi were also looking up meant that she wasn't the only one who had heard it. Suddenly, though, a large-sized dog entered the cavern, huffing tiredly, and barked once.

Akamaru.

Akamaru meant Kiba. Kiba probably meant Shino and Hinata. Hinata meant…

"Neji!" Tenten screamed, an act that instantly jarred everyone out of their sleep. She struggled to her feet and rushed outside without a second thought, ignoring the slanted snow that struck her.

Faded through the flurries of snowflakes, she saw four people stumbling towards her. Ignoring Gai behind her that warned it could be a trap, she ran frantically towards the shinobi. Tears dangerously felt like spilling over when she saw Neji, half conscious as he relayed on the two boys' grip to keep him standing, approaching slowly. Hinata's byakuugan was activated, though the girl's knees were trembling visibly from lack of chakra.

Tenten crossed the remaining distance just as her lover tilted his head upwards. The faintest of smiles appeared on his face, since he was much too exhausted to concentrate on such things as remaining stoic.

Kiba and Shino allowed him to stand on his own, both taking a step back as the kunoichi approached. Realizing that she was going full speed, she planted her feet firmly on the snow in an attempt to halt herself, only about five feet in front of Neji. Though it wasn't snow they were standing on, but ice. Just like it had happened a week ago, she slid directly forward, only this time, she rammed right into Neji. Too weak to even stop her, he caught her in his arms and they both tumbled backwards, thankfully hitting the cushion of snow instead of solid ice.

"Tenten…" he grunted with exhaustion as he shook his head to clear his face of snow. "I told you before, watch—"

"Watch out for the hidden ice, I know," she mumbled happily, her face buried in his wet cloak. Her arms were tightly clenched around his torso, and even though she was literally lying on top of him, she absolutely refused to move.

Hinata, even though a warm cave with her Naruto-kun was seriously inviting, took a few seconds to stare at the two. Many people were at the entrance of the cave, all smiling at the adorable scene. But Neji, instead of getting angry over the childish display of affection, wrapped his arms around the kunoichi and held her close to him, closing his lavender orbs. Sensing the two needed some time alone together, the remaining shinobi all entered the cavern, leaving them behind.

Pulling away reluctantly, Tenten eyed Neji as he remained in his position. The snow didn't seem to matter to neither of them as she lied down besides him, grinning as she laid her head on the snow besides his. It was cold, it was uncomfortable, but Neji's soothing gaze made it all worthwhile.

"I thought you'd be angry," he admitted gently, reaching over to take her hand into his. Once her lukewarm fingers touched his frozen ones, she immediately wrapped her entire hand around them to warm them up.

"I am," she grinned slightly. "But I chose to keep my anger for our next training session. It might be useful."

Neji smirked and eyed her slowly, taking in her beautiful features. He was about to suggest that they'd move inside when Tenten shuddered. "Can we go back, please? It's warmer in the cavern." Those words made him smile genuinely.

The two got up slowly, but before Tenten could take a step, he took her other hand into his. She barely had time to turn around before Neji's cold lips were on hers. But the physical coldness was ruled out by the emotional warmth that spread through her body, turning the icy pellets that fell around them useless.

They both enjoyed a few kisses before he nodded towards the cavern, his eyes half-lidded with exhaustion. With one of Tenten's hands still linked into his, he took a step forward before halting. Gently pushing Tenten a few feet left, they both went forward towards their shelter, walking safely besides the patch of ice, together.


End file.
